Red Light
by Frogie48
Summary: Bella is having a bad day and it only gets worse when she finds out that her marriage of 6 years is over. Who knew running a red light would be the end of one life and the beginning of another.
1. Chapter 1

Red Light by Frogie48

Driving home all I could think of was getting into the tub and soaking for at least a week. This day had been crap from the time I opened my eyes this morning, literally. I opened my eyes to find that the toilet had been steadily overflowing probably since James had left for work thirty minutes before. Then as I was cleaning up the water and fixing the toilet, I stubbed my toe on the vanity. I was over an hour late for work and had forgotten to pack a lunch. I couldn't go get anything since I was late so I just ate vending machine fare. I had the slowest computer in the office today so I got next to nothing done. By quitting time I was done. Frustrated to the max! I walked out to my car to find that someone had backed into the driver's side taillight, shattering it. Of course there was no note. I felt completely defeated. I drove home on autopilot and near tears. I couldn't wait to see my husband and let him comfort me. Hell at this point I was ready for some serious pampering. When I pulled in the driveway I noticed his car wasn't there so I decided I would take a long hot bubble bath and order some take-out. He usually beat me home but even when he didn't he wasn't home long after I was.

I closed my purse strap in the car door and had to yank it open to free myself. I kicked the door just to emphasize my irritation. I stomped up the steps to the front door and grabbed the mail as I unlocked the door. I dropped everything on the hall table and went straight to the bathroom to start my bath. I was going to get out of this bad mood one way or another. I ordered some Chinese for James and I, which they said should be there in an hour. So I stripped out of my work clothes (which by the way didn't match and I just now noticed) and sunk all the way to my ears in the hot, soapy water; the heat instantly calming my nerves. I soaked for a while and then cleaned up and shaved my legs. Feeling better I finished in the shower washing my hair. When I got out I felt much lighter than I had before. I found something sexy to wear and threw on my robe just in time to answer the door for the delivery man. I paid him and took the food to the kitchen. I wanted to wait on James so I put it in the warming drawer of my oven. I decided to pick up the house a little and texted James to see when he would be home. He answered quickly saying he'd be there in 20 minutes. So after picking up the living room and loading the few dirty dishes into the dishwasher I finally looked at the mail. Two credit card invitations, the power bill, the cable bill, two baby shower invitations and something from the City of Memphis; I opened the baby shower invitations first. Rose was due in six weeks and Angela was due in eight weeks and their showers were only a day apart. Then I opened the thing from the city of Memphis, it was from the traffic violations department. Apparently James had run a red light and got a ticket. "Well, it's not the first time," I said out loud, "won't be the last, I'm sure." As I read the form to see when the payment was due I noticed the picture. There were two people in the car. James was driving but there was a red headed woman in the passenger seat. Well she was kind of in the passenger seat. She was leaning over with her head on his shoulder. I instantly felt sick. I looked for the time stamp; it was from three weeks prior to today. It happened at three o'clock in the afternoon on a Thursday. He should have been at work. I set the mail on the table and went to the kitchen.

I opened the fridge and pulled out the bottle of white wine. Pouring myself a tall glass I sat down at the table and waited. Sure enough twenty minutes from the time I texted James, he walked in the front door. He called out to me and I nearly threw up. He was wearing a gray suit with a black dress shirt. He looked so good. He looked relaxed and happy. I studied his face to see if I could tell if he was cheating on me. I didn't see anything there but happiness. So then my stupid anxiety kicked into high gear. Is he happy because of her? Is he happy because he thinks he is getting away with something? Is he happy with me? No of course he isn't, if he is cheating. I must have been staring at him with an odd look on my face because he tilted his head and smiled at me. "What'cha thinking about?" he asked. I decided to just ask the first question. "Are you happy?"

"Yes, I am. Why wouldn't I be?" He said with a smile. "I have a beautiful wife, a great job, a lovely home, money in the bank and everything I could ever need."

"Yeah, I guess. Are you happy with me?" I ask.

"Absolutely. I am completely in love with you."

I decide to just get dinner out and make plates. I didn't want to know that he was lying to me. I could feel my heart breaking. I knew that tonight was the last night of my perfect marriage and the life I thought I had. I wanted to keep it for a just a minute longer.

So I kissed his lips and fixed our plates. I poured him a glass of wine and sat down next to him in my sexy outfit. We ate our cashew chicken and drank our wine. We kissed and laughed and everything was perfect. I straddled his hips in the kitchen and just as I was about to remove him from his clothes I remembered he was over an hour late and I didn't know if he was carrying around the stank from another woman. I ordered him to shower. He complied easily.

I led him to the bedroom where I stripped his clothes from him myself. I had to see him. I had to see if there was any trace of my fears. He seemed clean to me but I started the shower for him anyway. I watched him thru the glass door. I kept my emotions out and waited until he was done. He opened the door and stepped out onto the soft white bathmat that I had taken out of the linen closet this morning. He gave me a look of pure love and adoration as he wrapped his strong arms around my waist. I wasted no time wrapping my legs around him and kissing him. He carried me to the bedroom and climbed into our huge king sized bed. I kept myself attached to him the whole time. I didn't want to let him go. He kissed me like he always did; as if I were the only person in the world. He kissed every inch of my skin. He took his time. He loved me. When he pressed himself inside of my wet and waiting sex I cried. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I took his weight on me as a blanket of security. I needed him. I loved him. He was breaking me and he didn't even know it.

I felt the need to control him so I pushed him to roll over. Once on top I rocked over him bringing myself to orgasm. I was sitting up completely and he was watching my body as if in awe of me. I felt powerful. I felt a hundred feet tall. I held his gaze as I began to come again. I saw tears in his eyes as well. He sat up to me and wrapped his arms around me as we both cried. He rolled us to my back again and we stayed connected until the tears stopped and we finished with a pounding roar. I held his panting body to me until he slipped out of me.

We separated and lay beside one another. We lay quietly for a while before I break the silence. "Who is she?" I ask.

"Victoria, from work," he says easily.

"Do you love her?" I ask.

"I don't think so," he replies.

"How long?" I ask simply.

"Two months."

"Is that why you have been getting home late?"

"Yes, sometimes."

"Sometimes?" I question.

"Well sometimes I had to work to get caught up."

"From being with her during the day?"

"Well, yes."

"Why?"

"I honestly don't know," he says, sounding sincere.

"Did you start it?"

"No."

"So she came on to you? Did you tell her you were happily married?"

"Yes and yes."

"So how did you end up sleeping with her?"

"Do you really want to know this stuff?" he asks sounding defeated. I can't look at him so I am judging by his voice.

"No, but I need to understand."

He sits up and I see his face for the first time since the questions started. He is crying. He looks lost. He doesn't look like someone who is upset he got caught he looks truly remorseful. It makes me angry.

I sit up and look at him hard. "I need to understand why you would throw away six years of marriage. I need to understand why you weren't satisfied with me."

"I can't answer that. I love you. I have loved you from the moment I saw you. I will always love you," he says as if that is enough.

"Well you better figure out why and you can do that from your mother's house," I say angrily. "You have destroyed this marriage. I don't know if I can ever forgive you. I found out from a red light ticket, James; a fucking picture in the mail. You say you don't know if you love her and that you love me. How can you do this to someone you love?"

I break down again. He reaches for me. To comfort me like he has so many times over the years; only now it feels wrong. I don't want him to touch me. I want to scratch his eyes out.

"Please don't touch me," I ask shakily.

"I'm so sorry. I know that won't change anything. I know that you will hate me now. I deserve that."

"Tell me how you let her get you into bed," the masochist in me needs to hear it out loud.

"I accepted her offer of lunch one afternoon. Hoping that would stop the advances. We had a nice lunch. I talked about you even. Told her how happy we were. She told me about her past and how hard her life had been. I felt sorry for her. She hadn't ever felt love. She didn't know what it felt like to love someone like I loved you." He stopped for air and I interrupted.

"So you fucked her to show her love?" I spit at him like acid.

"No, of course not. We went to lunch a few more times and got to know each other. Then I found myself thinking about her when she wasn't around. I noticed I looked forward to seeing her. We started kissing at the end of our lunch dates and then one afternoon, we let things get out of hand. It started with kissing and before I knew it she was jerking me off in the car," he stops again and I feel the most overwhelming sense of hatred I have ever felt. I control my tongue though because he starts again.

"We made plans to get a hotel for an afternoon. I took a vacation day and met her there. We spent the whole afternoon makin, um, in bed. I felt so guilty when I left that I called her and told her we were through. She cried and I caved in the next day. We started meeting on Thursdays when we could."

"Did you use a condom?"

"Always, and I never made love to you after being with her."

"Oh well that was thoughtful of you," I say with a laugh, sounding like a Disney villain.

So let me get this straight; you don't know if you love her but you made dates to fuck her weekly. You let her tears talk you into continuing an affair that you felt guilty for having. You purposely protected yourself and me from any STD's she might have and didn't share yourself with two women on the same day."

He just shakes his head. "I guess that is one way of looking at it."

"Well I could say that you met a woman at work, started a friendship that turned to a loving relationship, tried to end it when you felt bad for your wife but couldn't because this woman means more to you than your wife. I could say that you love this woman even if you won't admit it to yourself. But saying that means that I am losing you forever so…." I stop to think for a second.

"I guess I am losing you forever though."

"No, baby, please just give me a chance to fix this," he begs.

"I don't think you can. Even if we separate now, go through counseling and try to make it work; I will always wonder if you are still seeing her, or if you have found someone new. I can't live like that. I won't live like that."

"I will break it off with her, right now if you want," he offers. I see a moment that the maniacal side of me can't pass up.

"Would you? Right now?" I ask.

"Absolutely. Let me get my phone," he says jumping up and stepping to the bathroom to get his phone from his pants. It's not there so he runs to the kitchen to get it. He is still naked. I almost giggle but the moment is too serious for that. When he returns he climbs into bed and sits facing me. He dials his phone and puts it to his ear. I tell him to put it on speaker, to which he reluctantly agrees.

"Hey, babe. What's up?" she says in a baby like voice.

"Vickie, I have to break this off," he says quickly.

"What? Why? I promise she isn't going to find out," she whines.

"She did. I got a red light ticket and you are in the car with me," he says.

"So, just tell her that it is us going to lunch. There isn't anything wrong with that."

"I wouldn't believe that, seeing as how your head is on my husband's shoulder in the picture," I say alerting her to my presence.

"James, take me off speaker right now!" she growls.

"No Vickie. We are through. I love my wife and I am going to fix this with her," he says trying to sound firm but failing.

"James, please talk to me. You don't love her anymore, you told me so," she whines.

I feel like I have been slapped because his face tells me that wasn't a lie. Any hope I had for possibly working through this is gone in a flash. I get up and get out of bed. I start getting dressed and he just sits there. He knows it is over. She is still begging him to talk to her in the background but he isn't listening. He is watching me. He is watching me pack my bag while her nagging voice is crying on his phone. He hangs his head and looks at his phone. Finally it is quiet. He hung up on her. He looks to me with tears in his eyes and says, " I am sorry, I really do love you."

I hold my hand up to silence him. "I love you too but I hate you more right now. I am going to my mom's or Alice's for a few days. I will let you know what I am going to do. Please don't call or text me. Don't check on me. Don't bother me," I beg. "I need time." I take my bags and I walk past him. I go to the kitchen to get a bottle of water and I leave, taking the mail with me, except the bills. I leave those for him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I sat in my car for thirty minutes at the end of the block, trying to talk myself out of going back and crawling into my bed. I was so angry with James. I was so hurt, but I was scared too. What was I supposed to do now? I mean, was it even possible to recover from this? For us? Could I go on being married to someone who could cheat on me? The easy answer was, no. The realistic answer was, maybe. Maybe we could go to counseling and work past the hurt his betrayal had caused. I felt pretty certain that I couldn't ever really forgive him. I was almost positive that even if I did forgive him that I would always wonder about his ability to stay true to me. I was pretty sure that even if we went years getting along just fine that when that one argument popped up that I would throw this hurt right back in his face and I don't want to live like that. So that moment, sitting in my car at the end of the block, I decided that I was filing for divorce and moving on with my life. I dialed Alice Whitlock and asked if I could crash in her guest room. She didn't even ask what I needed it for, just opened her home to me and let me have the night to cry and think. She shows me to the room and hugs me before turning and leaving me alone.

Alice had been my best friend for nearly twenty years. We met when we were seven years old, I had just moved to Memphis with my mom and dad. I was a tiny little thing and very nervous to start a new school for first grade. Alice was sitting by herself in the classroom while all the other kids had their parents there to get them settled. Mom walked me right over to where Alice sat and helped her get her things put away like she did mine. Alice became my best friend and unofficial sister that day in that classroom. We have been inseparable ever since. She got married one month before I did. Jasper and James were friends in high school and went to the University of Kentucky together as roommates. They weren't really close then but have gotten to be really good friends since. We met them at a University of Tennessee football game our freshman year. We were wearing our Volunteer Orange and they were dressed in Kentucky Blue. It was the only football game we went to the whole season but it ended up being the best day. They were both blonde haired, blue eyed beautiful men and we were completely taken. They were juniors and seemed so much older than we were. They spoke with a long drawl that was very different than the Tennessee accent we had. We found out they were from West Texas. Alice flirted with them both, not knowing which one she liked more at first. I was completely taken by James. His eyes seemed to pierce my soul, as if he could see right into me. He was so handsome. His chiseled jaw and beautiful smile made him seem untouchable for me. I didn't talk much but Alice talked enough for both of us. Jasper couldn't take his eyes off of her. She had long black hair and brilliant blue eyes. Her soft ivory skin made her look like a modern day Snow White. She was so dainty and had such delicate features. Her big personality more than made up for her diminutive stature.

Jasper seemed to watch every curve of her mouth as she spoke and hung on every word. He was just as smitten with her as I was with James. He was tall and lean; he had shoulder length wavy blonde hair and a little scruff on his face. His smile held a lot of mystery; like he was always on the edge of something sneaky. James listened to Alice talk about the best places to get food and where to go for fun in Knoxville. I just giggled when she would get really animated. When we decided to hang out together after the game, James held his elbow out for me and I shyly slipped my arm into his. Jasper led Alice with one hand on the small of her back. She looked at me over her shoulder and smiled so widely I thought she was going to crack her cheeks. James chuckled at her expression and whispered to me, "I guess she is happy with the turn of events." I just nodded. I was so happy too. I had hoped one of them would like me but I was praying for it to be James. That night turned out to be the best night of our college years. After that night James and I became an exclusive couple. He would come to see me every other weekend and I went to him a few times a semester. We talked every night and even took our breaks to visit each other's families. Jasper and James proposed to us on the same night. They took us out for dinner separately and proposed. They had planned it but we were shocked to come home that night and find out that we had both gotten engaged. Alice and Jasper got married two weeks after the guys graduated. James and I had our wedding a month later. We moved into family housing on campus and became neighbors for the next two years. I had never in my life been so happy and Alice was completely over the moon. We moved back to Memphis after graduation because I got a job in the juvenile probation department in Shelby County. James found a job at the community college in the IT department. We bought our house not long after we moved to town. My parents were begging us for babies but we weren't ready for that yet. I was getting there though. My friends were starting to have kids. Alice and Jasper had two already. I was thinking that I would bring it up to James soon.

Of course that was before my whole world shifted.

I spent the entire night remembering the past and mourning the future that wouldn't be, pretending to sleep at Alice's. I must have dozed a little though because I woke to the sound of little giggles coming from outside the door. Ellie and Sam were awake and playing in the hallway. I heard Alice shoo them off and then a light knock at the door. "Come in," I said stretching to sit up.

"Hey, so you wanna fill me in?" she questioned. "Jasper is taking the munchkins to the park for a few hours so we will have some privacy."

"Okay, let me get cleaned up and dressed. Please tell me you have coffee," I say hoping to sound less depressed than I felt.

"Of course I have coffee, what kind of silly question is that?" she says with a smile.

I get up and head to the bathroom. Not long after I arrived the night before I had to take a shower. All I could smell were his fresh scented shower gel and our love making. It smelled like good bye to me and I couldn't handle it. So I stood under the hot spray of the shower and used Alice's fruity bath products to rid myself of his scent. After getting dressed I check my phone to see if he has done what I asked him not to. He hasn't. I also check Facebook to see if he has posted anything. He has. Three of those memes that talk about mistakes and losing something you love and one self-loathing post about how stupid he is. I know he loves me. I could feel it even as I was leaving but obviously love wasn't enough to keep him from hurting me. I shut down my phone and toss it on the bed. I throw on the sweatshirt and jeans I brought. Good old Volunteer Orange. It is my go to "feeling like shit" shirt. I grab the ticket letter and head to the kitchen.

Alice has a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll on the table for me. I want to kiss her. She even dressed my coffee for me the way I like it; super sweet and creamy. I drop the paper on the table and sit down. She looks at the ticket and then at the picture and then at me. Her eyes fill with tears and she wipes at them angrily. "Oh honey, I am so sorry."

"Me too," I say.

"What did he say?"

"He admitted it and didn't try to lie about it," I say, feeling myself detach from the emotions rolling in my heart.

"How did you confront him? I can only imagine how I would do it. Jasper would be dick-less," she says, and for the first time I think I was wrong in how I handled the whole thing.

"I made love to him and then confronted him," I say, feeling very silly.

"Wow. How did you do that?" she asks, astonished.

"I needed to feel him. I needed to see for myself if it was me that made him cheat. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and I didn't want to. I thought, 'I am losing him forever, I just want a little more time to be perfect'," I explained. I then told her every detail of the night before including the phone call to Vickie.

"Do you think you can get past this?" Alice asks with that glimmer of hope that I had before finding out he told her he didn't love me anymore.

"You know, I did for about five minutes. I thought, maybe we could go to counseling and work through it. I mean I love him so much. He loves me too, Ali. But then I thought about it. Every time we argue I will through this back in his face. Even if I can forgive him, I will never forget. I will never be able to fully trust him again. The first time he comes home late, I am going to wonder. We will never get back what we had. I just don't see how we could," I say.

"What if you can? What if you try counseling and find out that you can fix this?" she offers.

"I don't want the tainted version of us, Ali. I want us; the 'us' that everyone envied because we were so happy. I want the 'us' that I have had for 8 years. I want my husband to be only mine and he will never be only mine again," I cry.

"Oh honey, I understand. So I see you have made up your mind."

"Yes, I am filing for divorce," I say with a firm finality.

"Have you told your parents?"

"No. I sat in my car for a half an hour after I left. I had to talk myself out of going back. I called you and came straight here," I say thinking about my night. "I spent the whole night thinking about college and how it all started. I was going to ask him about having a baby soon."

"Sweetie, I wish I knew what to say. I just have no words."

"I know. It's crazy, right. I mean we were so happy. He was so attentive. I never had a clue he was cheating on me. Two months, Ali. Two whole months he was seeing her. I mean, hell, they dated for Christ's sake!" The anger was starting to come back.

"Your daddy is gonna kill his ass," Ali says with a smile.

"I bet Jasper and Em will want to too."

"Oh definitely, Jasper will probably go over there with is shot gun in hand."

"I just wish I could have seen when it started. Maybe I could have stopped it. I feel like I wasn't paying attention or something. I have gone over and over the last 6 months in my head and nothing sticks out as wrong. He was still the same with me. The only difference was that he was working over more often but even that was only once every few weeks."

"We didn't notice anything. We spent just as much time together as always and he was still head over heels for you," Ali says, thinking back now too.

"I know. He even says that he doesn't know what happened."

"So Rose and Angela's baby shower is coming up. Do you want to go in on the gifts with me?" Ali says trying to change the subject. I just smile at her and join her subject change.

"Sure, what were you thinking?"

We talked about the baby showers and her kids for a long time which made me feel a million times better. I still had to talk to my parents and a lawyer but I felt a little more in control now.

Jasper brought the kids home and I got some serious snuggles from my two favorite redheaded girls. Sam was four years old and the perfect combination of her mommy and daddy; ivory skin with bright blue eyes, a petite little thing like her mommy but athletic like her daddy. Both girls had red hair, which made me laugh because of the contrast to Jasper's sandy blonde and Ali's coal black. Three year old Ellie was Jasper's little mini-me. She had his sneaky smile and cool blue eyes. Her hair was wavy and she even had his nose. They were silly and spunky like their mom. They always had big hugs for me and a story or two to tell.

"Where's Uncle Jay?" asked Ellie.

"He's at home," I answered, not knowing what else to say.

"Is he coming over too?" asked Sam.

"Probably not."

"Is he sick?" asked Ellie.

"No, honey, he isn't sick. Uncle Jay and I are spending some time apart," I said.

"Oh, Ok!" Ellie says.

I chuckle at how simple it must be to her. Ali wipes another tear and I look to see Jasper is wanting an explanation. Ali takes the girls to their room and Jasper and I talk. I tell him everything and just as I expected he wants to kill my husband.

"Jasper, just let it go. I am going to file for divorce and I think that is punishment enough."

"No, Bella, I won't let him get away with this. He has done nothing but talk about how great you are and how perfect his life is for the last eight years. Why on earth would he do something like this?" he says, pacing the kitchen.

"Jasper, even he doesn't know. He needs time to figure out what happened and I need to start a new life without him. I don't want you going to the house and kicking his ass, although I appreciate the thought."

So the night calmed down and we had a nice dinner before I called my parents and asked if I could come over to talk. They were curious but I told them I would explain when I got there. Unfortunately I had to drive by my house to get to theirs as it was only a few houses down the street, which is why I didn't go there to begin with.

Alice offered to go with me and I gladly accepted. Alice drove and I looked out the window the whole way. Once we got to the street I tried not to look at my house as we drove by but I failed. I looked into the drive way to see if his car was there but what did I find; his car and a small black sports car that I didn't recognize. I gasped and Alice pulled over when she saw it. I jumped out of the car and ran up the walk. I threw open the door and nearly fell at the force with which I entered the house. There in my living room, on my couch was my husband and his red headed mistress curled up watching TV as if they were not doing something wrong.

He looked up at me and immediately left her sitting there shell shocked. He started to apologize and tell me something that I wasn't hearing.

"Don't. Don't say a fucking word. You have until Friday to get your stuff out of my house and I hope you know that I am filing for divorce and you will be hearing from my attorney."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"You can't kick him out this is his house!" the whiney bitch says from my living room. I walk right past James who is now completely aware of how bad this situation is and march up to Vickie.

"Look bitch. You went after a married man, you chose to ruin a perfectly wonderful marriage and you think you are going to come into the house I, yes, I paid for and tell me what I can and cannot do. You are out of your mother fucking mind. James knows full well that fifty percent of everything we own is mine just simply based on the law and here's another fact I bet you didn't know. My father made us get a prenup because of some family money so James here is now not entitled to a single fucking thing that my family money paid for, including this house. So you take your whiney little ginger ass and get the FUCK out of my house." I said without ever raising my voice. James was already packing his shit. He knew the sound of my voice meant that his week was now down to minutes.

James come back in the room just as Vickie starts to argue with me and calls her to him. "Vickie, come on. We are leaving."

She starts to bitch about it, "But she said you have till Friday."

"Vickie, now," he says, irritated.

"Fine. You are such a bitter cunt, I guess now I understand why it was so easy to get him into my bed." She says just before my hand connects with her face; and by hand I mean fist and by face I mean nose. I heard a satisfying crack so I am pretty sure it is broken.

James is shocked. Ginger Bitch is crying. "I am pressing assault charges. Jimmy call the police!" she orders. I start laughing hysterically.

"Oh, yes, Jimmy please call the police. I would love to see that," I say, hearing the mania in my voice. Alice is in the door way trying not to laugh. She finally says, "They'll be here in about three seconds."

Just then, my father walks in the door and takes in the situation. He is the Chief of police in Memphis. Has been for about twelve years.

"Bella, James, What is going on here? Who is this woman?" he asks, not quite in cop mode because dad mode is in full affect.

"Well dad, James here got himself a ginger whore to fuck around with behind my back and thanks to the good ole traffic cameras I found out last night. He swore that he loved me and would break it off with her. I left to spend the night at Alice's to clear my head and asked him to give me few days to think. He took that to mean that he could bring this slut to my house and I happen to find out when we were on our way to your house to tell you and Mom that I was filing for divorce."

James had the decency to look properly scolded. Alice was on her phone, no doubt texting Jasper. Whore Bitch was still crying and bleeding all over my hard wood floors.

Dad took a deep breath and looked at James. "I don't understand how you could do this and I really want to take my 9mm to your balls right now but I can't. You know what this means, right son?"

James nods. "Yes, sir."

"I never thought we would need that clause but apparently I am a terrible judge of character. I suggest you get your shit and get out. I also think you girlfriend needs to go to the ER and get her nose looked at," Dad says, clearly disappointed in the only son he ever had.

"Yes, sir. I am so sorry," James starts.

Dad cuts him off. "Save it. You may have been sorry but you obviously didn't learn anything if you brought her here after you got caught. I thought you were at least smart enough to think about the fact that we live three doors down the street."

James moves towards me. He starts to speak, I slap him before he can. I hit him pretty hard because my hand stings and there is a welt on his face almost immediately. He steps back in shock and defeat. Vickie's wailing at this point. "Get that bitch out of my house," I say through gritted teeth.

He nods and leads her out the door. Alice follows him with the bag he had dropped in the living room. When she comes back in she sets about finding something to clean up the blood from Vickie's nose.

"Bella, that was awesome! You broke her fucking nose!" she squeals, "Jasper is so proud of you. Oh and he and Emmett are going to have a chat with James tomorrow."

"Good," I say. I can't think of any reason not to let them kick the shit out of him now. I was hoping for an amicable divorce but now the shit has hit the fan and it is on.

"I did not hear that," says dad.

"I'm so sorry Daddy. I had no idea he was cheating and then I got that ticket yesterday and there they were. I was so shocked. I thought he would at least try to fix it, I was still filing for divorce but I kind of hoped that he loved me as much as I thought he did. Obviously I was a shitty judge of character too," I say starting to cry.

My daddy wraps me in his arms and holds me while I cry. Then he checks my hand and sees that it is swelling around my knuckles. "Nice shot girl, you didn't even break your hand. It'll be sore tomorrow though."

"Daddy, I need a divorce lawyer."

"I know. Call Michael, he'll take care of you. He knows the prenup and can set everything in motion for you. I doubt James will contest it at this point. Although that girl seems like trouble so who knows what she'll talk him into," he says, rubbing his chin in thought.

My mom comes over to see what is taking Dad so long. I fill her in on all the happenings of my life to which she has the same reaction as the rest of us; utter shock and complete disappointment. Soon Jasper shows up with the girls and my things.

"I figured you would want to stay here tonight," he says.

"I am but first I am going to have to do some house cleaning. Can I borrow your wife?" I ask, looking at Alice for some help clearing the skank out of my house.

"Girls night! I'll call Rose and Angela too, If you want," she offers bouncing on her toes.

"Sure, I guess now's as good a time as any to tell them."

"Rose already knows, because I told Emmett and he was very loud and angry on the phone. She was sitting right there. She was ready to get in the car and come on over herself," Jasper says.

As if on cue, Emmett and a very pregnant but still gorgeous Rosalie walk in my front door.

"Where did he go? I need to kick the shit out of him," Rose says.

"Slow down, Rocky. You aren't kicking the shit out of anyone," Emmett says, shaking his head.

"Like hell I'm not. That jack wad screwed over our Bella and he is going to pay!" she says.

"Not hearing this," says my dad. "We are going to go home. You know where to find us honey, if you need anything."

I get a hug and a kiss from both mom and dad as they say good bye.

Jasper and the girls head home leaving Alice, Emmett and Rose here to keep me company while we clean up the house. Rose is limited to what she can do so I send her to vacuum the living room furniture and rug. She also dusts and sanitizes the furniture for me.

Ali and I go to the bedroom and bathroom. Fortunately it doesn't look like he even slept in here so I don't think anything else happened either but I'm not taking any chances. Of course I also want all traces of our last night together gone. So we strip the bed and vacuum the mattress, floor and pillows. I laugh when Alice suggests burning the sheets. I don't decline the offer though so that may be how we start a bonfire later.

We remake the bed and I set about cleaning the bathroom. Emmett packed all of James' clothes into a bunch of garbage bags. He said he'd take them to him in the morning. There were pictures everywhere in the house, so Rose found a box and started packing them up. After about three hours and a bottle of wine we had transformed my house into that of a newly single woman. It was amazing. All the pictures of us were gone, his clothes and personal items were packed, the beer he had in the fridge even was gone. Emmett was a little drunk but I didn't have to look at those stupid bottles now.

They all stayed the night and Ali and I shared my bed, like we used to when we were kids. I cried again. I was ashamed to feel the tears but Ali told me to let them fall. "There's no shame in heartbreak. He blindsided you and you deserve to let all the emotions out."

I knew she was right of course but it still hurt to admit that I had no idea and that the one person who told me every day how much he loved me and how lucky he was to have me, had lied to me, even for just a little while. It made me wonder when it stopped being true. He told me every single day for 8 years that he loved me and that I made him so happy. Every. Single. Day. When does that just become an automatic response? He made love to me like it was the most important thing he did. We had a healthy sex life. We were adventurous and made love at least four times a week. When did that become just going through the motions? I couldn't stop the questions from coming. I tried to sleep but just couldn't get more than an hour or so.

Around five in the morning my phone chirped.

 _I know you hate me and don't want to hear from me, but I had to tell you. I didn't invite her over. She just showed up a few hours before you did. – J_

I almost laughed out loud.

 _So she's a manipulative whore too? Thanks for letting me know. It doesn't matter though. You looked awful cozy on the couch. I had already made up my mind. I was filing for divorce regardless._

 _I figured you would. You weren't going to be able to get it out of your head. I totally understand. I really am sorry that I hurt you. I do love you, I know you don't believe that now but I do. I won't fight the divorce. Vickie wants me to contest it but I won't do that. There's nothing to contest. I cheated, I hurt you and I deserve to lose you. -J_

 _You do deserve to lose me. You told me every day how lucky you were to have me, how happy I made you and how much you loved me. When did that change?_

 _Never, I was lucky to have you and I will never love anyone the way I love you. I don't know how I let her get to me, I really don't. She is pretty manipulative and I fell for it. I have to end it with her and I don't think it is going to be pretty. I think she is crazy.-J_

 _Well that shit is on you. Good luck. Maybe one day we can be friends but for now, I just can't. Nothing you say is going to make this better. I do wish you all the best and I really hope that she just disappears but I don't think you are going to be that lucky. Karma is a crazy bitch and you have a lot of bad shit to pay for._

 _I know. I am sorry, more than you think. I just want you to know that none of this is your fault. You never did anything to push me away or anything like that so stop beating yourself up. Don't try to say that you haven't been asking yourself what you did wrong, or what you could have done better. I know you better than even Alice does. You are not even a little at fault here. -J_

 _I know that, but thanks for telling me. I have to go. Good luck breaking up with your crazy mistress._

Weirdest conversation ever. But as weird as it was it actually helped me. I got some closure and I realized that I didn't need to blame myself. He is in a world of hurt and it was all his own doing. That bitch it crazy and he is going to have to deal with her all on his own. I fell asleep easily after that and slept until nearly noon. Alice and Rose woke me with the smell of bacon and coffee. I got up and spent the day doing fun things with my best friends. We even got Angela to come out with us. Ali told her about James so I didn't have to. That is what friends are for.

We shopped and bought some really cute stuff for the babies. Both Rose and Angela are having boys. So we spent the day finding some baby boy clothes and goodies. It was so nice to forget about the shit storm that is my life for a while. I had only one moment where I felt overwhelmed with emotion. I realized that my friends all had what I just lost. Happy marriages and babies. I didn't know if I would ever trust anyone enough to have that again.

At the end of the day I was alone and it was okay. Alice and Rose were reluctant to leave me but I felt pretty good about being alone. I was going to be single for the first time in eight years so I needed to get used to the feeling. I watched some crap TV and ate a frozen pizza. I drank a glass of wine and took a bubble bath. I took all the pillows off the guest bed and filled up James' side of the bed before crawling in and snuggling with them. I slept like a baby and woke feeling refreshed. I took the day off so I could call Michael and get the ball rolling on this divorce.

Michael Newton was a friend from high school who became an attorney. We dated briefly back in school but he seemed more like a brother to me so I wasn't upset when he broke up with me to date Jessica Stanley. They were married with three kids now. He took over the firm his dad started and now he handles all the Swan family inheritance and my prenup.

"Bella, that prenup is iron clad. Your dad was insistent that it cover infidelity," Mike explained, "He can't touch the house, the money or the guest house in Sarasota. You will have to split the joint assets though but you already knew that. Have you closed your bank account or anything?"

"No, but it was on my list today. I was just going to withdraw half the money and open a new account."

So after my meeting with Mike I feel pretty good. The papers will be ready in about three days and he will be served when they are. I head to the bank to take care of business only to find that James had already come and he took only what he had put in for the last two months. He left the rest and took his name off the account. He even left me a note in the safe deposit box.

I hope you are okay with me changing the account. I know that I could have taken half of it but I didn't want to do that without paperwork showing I could. So I just took my last two paychecks worth. Emmett brought me my stuff and I now have a nice black eye to show for his visit. Jasper was a little nicer in that he didn't leave marks on my face. I have some nice color forming around my ribs.

Anyway, I love you and I hope you have a happy life. – James

After I checked on a few things in the safe deposit box I went downtown and walked around. I ate some ice cream and people watched. It was a decent day and one that proved to me that my life wasn't ending, just taking a detour for the time being.


	4. Chapter 4

I have to say thank you to Cheatwards Spot on Facebook for posting a link to this story. I can't believe the attention this little thing has gained. I love it and thank you to everyone reading and reviewing. My inbox is going crazy!

Chapter 4

Three months. Three months was all it took to dissolve my marriage. Mike wasn't kidding when he said he would get on it. In three days James had been served the papers and we met a few times to distribute property and sign papers regarding the things that were in both our names. We officially signed our papers this morning. We are divorced now.

James kept his word and contested nothing. We amicably dissolved all our assets. He got to keep his car, his home office furniture and computer, the big screen in the living room, and I gave him half the furniture. He asked for copies of all our photos, so Alice took everything that was boxed up and gave them to him. I had the originals somewhere so I wasn't concerned. We didn't have any children who would want them down the road and I will always remember those days so the pictures just didn't seem important to me anymore.

James kept his word about Victoria as well. He broke things off with her and after a restraining order, he seemed to be free of her now. She called me daily for about a week. I never understood her need to contact me. She never asked for anything, but she would call and ask to talk as if we were friends or something. That chick was off her rocker. She put James through the ringer though. She tried every trick in the book to keep him around. He broke up with her the day we talked via text. He moved into an apartment downtown. She tried to get him to move in with her while he was looking for a place. He stayed with my parents for about a week. His family is in Texas so too far away to commute to work. We texted a few times a week for a while, less now though. He called me one time about three weeks after it all happened. He was in tears and having a breakdown. I could barely make out what he was saying but he managed to explain that Vickie, or Crazy Ginger Bitch as I call her, told him she was pregnant. She sent him a picture of the positive test and told him she was due in seven months. I was so angry at first but then I remembered that he told me he used condoms every time with her and that timeline would have gotten her pregnant the first few weeks they started their affair. I reminded him of those things as well. He was instantly pissed and apologetic for bringing the problem to me again. I just laughed. In a way, I guess we would always be connected somehow.

He told her he wanted to go with her to the appointment to have the pregnancy confirmed. She made an appointment and he went with her. He asked for a blood/serum pregnancy test because as dumb as he was, he was actually very smart. She freaked out and tried to say it was because she was afraid of needles. What it really was is that she brought someone else's piss to use for the test and now she couldn't use it. He found it in her purse when she knocked it off the table in her needle fearing distress. He was so pissed and ended up getting a restraining order to keep her away from him. Since then everything has been very drama free.

I started working out three times a week. I love it. I have found a way to let out my emotions without having to spend a fortune on a therapist. I go to a kettlebell class on Mondays and Wednesdays and then to a kickboxing class on Saturday mornings. I am strong and my thin body is getting to be quite muscular. I love the way I look now, I never had an issue with my body but the stronger, shapelier me is pretty freaking awesome. I got my long brown hair cut and colored. I still have the length but now I have layers that with my natural waves look even thicker. I had some bright red highlights put in my chocolate brown hair. It looks so different and I love it. I started wearing a make-up more often. I never used to bother with it because James thought I was beautiful without it, but I kind of liked the way it played up my features. I felt more confident with it, although I didn't seem to mind not wearing it either. My friends tried to hook me up with single guys they knew but I wasn't really interested yet. I was enjoying the time I had alone to do things I hadn't taken the time to do in years. I was reading again. I found a website that people used to rate the books they had read and I started reading every night. In three months I had finished four series' and had started a fifth. Work was great, I got a promotion and now I had an office of my own, with a new computer that never runs slow. I was in charge of the entire case management department and had the responsibility of placing new cases with a case manager or probation officer. It was exactly what I went to college for so I was thrilled to finally be using my degree.

I had a date in a few hours. I was nervous but ready. I had met Tyler at a bar on Beale St. during a night out with the girls from work. I never went to Beale St. cause it was such a tourist spot but a band that one of my co-workers' husbands was in was playing so we decided to go. I had a blast and got a little drunk. I met Tyler when I tripped over my own two feet trying to dance. He caught me before I could make a total ass of myself. He helped me to a seat and we talked while I switched to water for the rest of the night. He was a sweet guy with dark brown hair and brown eyes, like me. We talked every day for the last week and decided to meet up for a lunch date and see a Red Birds game. I wasn't really into baseball but Alice said it would be a good first date activity. She and Rose helped me pick out something to wear. I hadn't been on a first date in nearly nine years. They helped me pick out a short sun dress that we paired with Capri length leggings. The dress was a buttery yellow with white trim. I wore comfy canvas tennis shoes with it. I felt really young but the girls promised me I looked awesome. Rose French braided my hair and I put on a touch of make-up. After checking myself out in the mirror I had to agree, I looked pretty damn good. It was all very natural and very 'me' so I was happy with it.

I hugged the girls and gave little Aiden a kiss on the top of his bald head. Rose smiled as he searched for something to eat after the contact. The little guy was a big eater. He was two months old now and had beefed up super fast. Rose told Emmett that he was never touching her again after she pushed out a nine pound seven-ounce baby with no drugs. The woman was super human, I swear. She was nearly back to her pre-baby, supermodel body. I asked them to lock up the house and took off for Huey's to meet Tyler for lunch. Once I found a place to park I texted him to make sure he was there. He came out to meet me and walked me into the restaurant. He looked really good in his dark plaid cargo shorts and a blue v-neck t-shirt. We sat down and talked over the menu until a waiter took or order. Burgers and fries for both of us.

"So I feel like I already know so much about you," he says, starting the conversation off.

"There's not that much to know. I never thought to ask because we always have something to talk about but where are you from. You are definitely not a native," I say trying to find a way to get a conversation going. This was a little too awkward.

"Oh, I am from St. Louis. I have lived here for two years though," he says, and then stops.

I already know he works in sales as a medical supply dealer to hospitals and that he has a degree in business.

"Did you grow up there or is that where you went to college?"

"I grew up north of Chicago but moved to St. Louis to go to school at Webster University. How bout you, did you grow up here?"

"Yes for the most part. I lived in St. Petersburg, Florida until I was seven. I've lived in Tennessee ever since. I went to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville," we had already discussed my education but the awkwardness was killing me. I couldn't help but think that maybe we had used up all our chemistry on the phone. He seemed kind of boring now that I was sitting across from him. We managed to talk about the weather, our jobs, our friends, and hobbies but it was all very superficial. I chalked it up to first date nerves. Soon our lunch was over and we now had a ball game to go to. I had hopes that the game would liven up the atmosphere.

I couldn't have been more wrong if I were a meteorologist in the Midwest. Tyler was boring and inattentive. He really liked baseball. I mean really, really liked baseball. He didn't notice me at all once the first pitch was thrown. I ended up texting Alice through the entire game. He did think to get me a soda when the vendor came around, once. He tried to hug me when the Redbirds first basemen hit a home run. It was awkward, to say the least. I caught a good looking guy watching me. I made eye contact and he smiled the most brilliant crooked smile I had ever seen. Tyler had no clue I was even there so I didn't feel bad when I excused myself to go to the restroom but really met this beautiful man in the line for the concession stand.

"Bad date?" he asked from behind me.

"Ugh, the worst," I said without turning around. He had a smooth voice, with a familiar Tennessee accent. "I don't even like baseball so I don't know enough about what I am watching to even enjoy the game."

"Well, come sit by me and you may learn something," he offered.

"I couldn't do that. Just skip out on a date?" I said even though I really wanted to.

"Suit yourself. I doubt he even notices you're gone," he says as he pays for my popcorn and soda and walks away without ordering anything.

I text Alice as soon as I am back to my seat to ask her what I should do; she doesn't even hesitate.

 _You go sit with the hot guy and learn a fucking thing or two._

I sit for a few more minutes before tapping Tyler on the shoulder and tell him that I am leaving. He doesn't care but he tries to kiss me, to which I turn my cheek and allow him to kiss only that. I don't tell him I will call him and he makes no effort to walk me out. So I am now pacing in the walkway trying to decide if I am going to go find the hot guy or just go home. Before I can over think it, I walk down the tunnel to the section he is in and make my way up to the seat next to him.

"I'm Edward," he says looking me right in the eye.

"Bella," I say smiling.

"Well, Bella. There are still three innings so what can I teach you about the game?"

"I'm a baseball virgin so I guess you'll have to teach me everything," I say, somehow keeping a straight face and not even blushing much. He grins and shakes his head.

"Nice."

I giggle and he starts explaining what is going on down on the field. I don't really care about it but he makes it sound interesting. After one inning with Edward, I am enjoying myself. We share the popcorn and he buys us both a beer. I'm not much of a beer drinker but it sure felt good to relax and just enjoy the company. I know next to nothing about him because almost all we talked about was baseball and my horrendous date but I am having the best time. We flirt and joke the whole time.

When the game ends he has his arm around my neck and we walk up the road to where I am parked. He gives me his phone and says, "Enter your name and number and I will get ahold of you this week if you're okay with that."

After I enter my info in his phone he calls me, "Now you have my number!"

I smile and save it as 'Hot baseball Edward'. He sees me and grins. "Hot, huh?"

I blush and smile. "Right, like you don't know that."

"It's been said before; I still get a kick out of it though."

He changes my name to 'sexy sundress Bella'. I laugh and he smirks. "I had another name in mind but wanted to keep it clean."

"So I will get ahold of you sometime this week. I don't know when because I have to go out of town tomorrow and won't be back until late Friday but I will try to text you or something. I'd like to see you again though." He says looking suddenly bashful.

"I'd like that," I say as my feet take a step his direction. I reach out, suddenly feeling quite bold, and touch his hands softly. He opens them to me and we stand facing each other holding hands. I want so badly to kiss him. I don't even know his last name but I want to feel his tongue in my mouth and hands in my hair. I take a shaky breath and step even closer. He bends his head down to me and when I tip my head up he brushes his lips against my forehead. I nearly melt at the contact and the spark that seems to crackle across my skin. He gasps and I allow myself to kiss his lips. It's a soft kiss that leaves no room for anything more. I can't let myself make out with a virtual stranger in a parking lot. He kisses me softly and then steps back.

"It has been nice to meet you, Bella. Look for my text," he says squeezing my hands before dropping them. He walks a few feet away and turns to look back at me. "Cullen. That's my last name."

He must have read my mind. "Thank you!" I say loud enough for him to hear me over the traffic. Then he is gone.

I get in my car and squeal like a school girl. Best worst date ever! I call Alice as I drive back to my house. We have a mini squeal session. As I am getting out of my car at home my phone chirps. I check it and to my surprise it's Tyler.

 _I'm sorry you had to go so soon. Would you like to meet me for dinner tomorrow?_

I can't help but laugh. I don't want to be mean but I decide the truth is the best way to go.

 _I don't think that is a good idea. Thank you for the lunch but hopefully, you find someone who enjoys baseball as much as you do. I don't think we have much in common. – B_

I walk inside and grab a bottle of water from the fridge before plopping down on my sofa and drinking half the bottle. My phone doesn't chirp again the rest of the night.

I check my email and see that I got a match from . He looks nice enough and he wants to talk. I don't feel up to it so I close my laptop and make myself a salad before taking a long hot bath and going to bed.

I dream of Edward and wake up feeling things that I haven't felt in a long time.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Edward did text me but he is out of town and we aren't meeting up until next weekend. I have talked to two guys on Match but they were obvious douche bags so I refused to meet them. Alice has been great about not trying to set me up but Rose has not been so great. I am meeting a friend of Emmett's tonight for drinks. I refused to do another dinner after my awkward lunch with Tyler.

Felix is a college friend of Emmett's and is a former Tennessee Titan football player. He looked attractive in the picture Emmett showed me, so I decided I would go out and at least meet him. He honestly doesn't sound like my type but since my only type seems to be a little outdated I may not even know what it really is anymore.

I dream about Edward every night. It sucks because I don't know him and all I have is that little bit of physical chemistry we had and a few hours of flirtatious banter to think of. We have tried to have a few phone conversations but they always get interrupted by one of his clients or Alice. I have to say he is witty and intelligent. I enjoy our texts but they are quite simple and flirtatious at this point. I really want to get to know him better. My only hang up about him is he travels for work a lot. He said he is usually gone at least ten days a month. That makes me nervous.

I have been asked out by three of my employees at work. One of them was a woman. I have to say it is very flattering to know that people find you attractive. I can't date a co-worker let alone someone I supervise but it was still pretty cool to get asked out.

I have to stop at Alice's to pick up a little black dress that I am borrowing for the night. I am meeting Felix at a local martini bar. I'm taking a Lyft ride so I don't have to worry about drinking and driving; not that I plan to drink that much.

I make it home with time enough to eat, shower and get dressed. I leave my hair down and add some wide curls. I actually tried out a make-up look that I found online. I felt kind of glamorous. The dress is just above the knee, long sleeved, and has a high collar but has a nice deep V in the back that is filled with a lace panel. It is classy and sophisticated. I pair it with a pair of black peep-toe heels that have a red ankle strap. I look for some jewelry but when I see my wedding set in the box I can't focus for a minute.

I'm in a good place about the divorce but there are things that remind me of what I lost. My wedding ring is one and certain restaurants get to me as well. I shake off the nostalgia and grab a pair of gold hoop earrings and head for the door. My ride is waiting out front. The driver gives me the 'once over' a few times too many on the way to the bar. He actually gave me his number when I paid him for the ride.

I go inside and sit at the bar, having not seen Felix anywhere. I order a basic martini and wait. A few minutes later a tall, dark haired guy with dimples as deep as Emmett's sits next to me. He doesn't say anything right away but I am sure it is Felix based on the picture Rose showed me.

"I am sorry I'm late," he says looking over. "I couldn't get a cab."

"Should've called Lyft," I say, with a smile. He smiles back and nods.

"I guess I should have. I hope you haven't been here long. I see you started without me," he says nodding towards my drink. I gesture to the bar tender and ask for one for him.

"Not long at all," I say.

"Good. So do you want to get a table or stay here?" he seems willing to follow my lead.

"We can stay here for a bit. The tables seem pretty full. We can always move later," I say hoping that if this goes well we can move to a more private table.

"Good idea."

We sit and talk easily about football. It is one of the few sports I know anything about thanks to my dad, Charlie. We also talk about college and he tells me some very funny stories about Emmett. He is very easy going and I am really enjoying myself. I find that he got hurt a few years ago and had to give up football. He is honestly lucky to be able to walk having suffered a severe neck injury. I find myself touching his knee while we talk and there is some obvious chemistry there. After about an hour we end up moving to a booth in the corner. It is L-shaped and I move to sit fairly close to him. There is a jazz band playing so it is actually kind of loud in the bar now. We talk about past relationships a little. I tell him the basics about my marriage and he tells me the same about his. He has been married twice and vaguely tells me that football ruined his first marriage but the second was a mistake from the start.

Before long we are sitting thigh to thigh and he has his arm around my shoulders. I feel pretty small against him. He towers over my five foot six frame. I am feeling a little tipsy so I slow my drinking and order water. He follows suite. We talk for a while longer and then I realize it is well past one in the morning. We make plans to see each other again. I request an Uber and he orders a cab. We wait in front of the building for them to show up.

While we wait he holds my hand and we iron out our plans for the following week. We are going to meet on Tuesday for dinner. I turn to him when my driver texts me to let me know he is circling the block. "I had a great time. I'll text you my address for Tuesday," I say before lifting up on my toes and kissing his cheek. He turns his face and kisses mine in return. I take a chance and kiss his lips softly. He places his hands on either side of my face and deepens the kiss. It isn't full on make-out style but it is pretty hot. I open to him and he quickly presses his tongue into me. I pull back and kiss him softly as a good bye. He smiles and sighs. My driver pulls up and honks, breaking the moment.

I smile and step away from him. I am on cloud nine until I see that the Uber guy is the same as the Lyft guy and now I must ride home with him staring at me again. On the way, back to my house, I get a text. I open it to find that it is from Edward.

 _I hope you are having a good night. Call me if you want…-HBE_

I laugh because he uses the initials for my phone name for him.

 _On my way home now, I will call in a few. -SSB_

 _Are you texting and driving?_

 _Haha, no! I am in an Uber. The driver keeps staring at me in the rearview mirror._

 _Do you need rescued? Again…_

 _Are you offering? Again…_

 _I will always rescue you if you want me to._

 _Good to know._

 _Where are you on the way home from so late at night? If you don't mind me asking._

 _A martini bar._

 _With the girls?_

 _Nope. I had a date._

 _Better than the last one I hope. Well I really don't hope but for your sake and all…_

 _It was a very nice date. Much better company this time._

 _Oh, so I guess you are seeing him again then._

 _Yes, actually, I am._

 _I guess I need to step up my game then._

 _I guess. Are you intimidated?_

 _Not at all but I haven't even gotten a chance to show you how great I am for you and you have a second date with someone else._

 _Yeah true. If it helps I am really looking forward to our date. I wish it were sooner._

 _Me too. If I can wrap up this presentation early I will be home on Wednesday. I'd love to see you before Saturday if we can work it out._

 _Sounds good to me. I am free Thursday and Friday._

 _Ok I will let you know by Wednesday afternoon._

 _I am home now, I'll call you in a few minutes._

I pay the driver and hurry inside. Once in the house I lose the heels and change into my pajamas. A pair of soft yoga pants and a tank top. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and head to my bed where I dial Edward and wait for him to answer. After only two rings he answers, "Did the Uber guy give you his number?" I laugh out loud at that.

"Actually he did but that was earlier in the evening, when he was the Lyft guy," I say, laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

"Really it was the same driver for both. That is funny."

"Yeah. So how is the presentation going? What is it you do exactly?" I ask, still unclear.

"I am a corporate merger consultant. I am the guy that comes in and shows a company how to combine the company they just bought into their own business model. Sometimes I must write a completely new model for them but usually I can help them merge the two without losing employees on either side of the acquisition," he says simply.

"Wow! That sounds incredibly important and kind of scary."

"Not scary at all. I'm not like those guys in movies who come in and recommend gutting the newly acquired company to maximize profits. I hate to see people lose their jobs so what I do is find the best possible model for both companies to use to merge; without cutting employees or gutting their benefits. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I have a pretty good track record so I get a lot of jobs," he explains, "What is it you do? I know you work in juvenile probation."

"I am a case manager. I used to be a case worker but now I get all the cases and help determine which case worker gets which case and send the cases, that should be, to the probation officers. Many of our cases are kids who are lacking in more than one socioeconomic area and we are able to keep them out of detention centers by providing services to them and their families. Poverty and abuse will do terrible things to a kid and can make them feel like they have no real choice in the direction of their future so they just give up. My job is to make sure they get all the help they can to make better decisions and avoid the hard road.

"That is a very noble thing to do. I bet it can be heartbreaking."

"It can be. Many of these kids have already made a string of bad choices and there are simply not enough services."

"That is true. So a date huh?" he asks; kind of.

"Yeah. Does that bother you?"

"A little. I was hoping I made a big enough impression on you to end your dating life. Was I wrong?" He asks with a clear smile in his voice.

"Oh, you made quite an impression but I have to see what my options are. I've been in a relationship since I was 19. I couldn't just jump into a relationship right out of a divorce, now could I?" I retort. We haven't talked about this yet.

"You just got divorced. I take it you are about twenty seven then."

"Yeah I am. My divorce was final the day I met you. I was on my first date in 9 years."

"Wow. Can I ask what happened?"

"He cheated," I answer. I debate on telling him more but I don't feel like talking about it again. I already had that conversation with Felix.

"On you?! Why do guys do that?" he wonders aloud, "I see it often. A guy gets this amazing, beautiful woman to marry him and then cheats on her; usually with someone much less attractive and not amazing."

I am pretty sure he called me beautiful and amazing and that makes me sigh.

"All I can say is sometimes good people make bad decisions that lead to huge mistakes," I say vaguely.

"True. So if you are wondering, I have never been married. I have only had two long term relationships," he says, answering my next question before I could even ask it.

"How old are you?" I ask.

"Twenty-nine."

"What's your longest relationship?"

"Four years. I dated a girl from the end of my senior year of high school. We went off to college together but senior year at school I got an internship and was gone a lot. She got bored and started partying. I ended up finding out she was the life of many parties on campus. She was spending more time partying then studying and ended up quitting school," he tells me.

"That sucks. When was your last relationship?"

"Well I haven't dated much the last year. I've really just been kind of solitary for a while. I guess my last relationship would have been two years ago. It lasted a little over seven months. I dated a few ladies casually for a bit after that but then just decided to take a break from the scene for a while," he says trailing off. I figure he doesn't want to talk about it since he doesn't go into any detail so I let it go.

I am not really sure what to talk about now but he breaks the silence, "Bella, what is your favorite music?"

I laugh because I was not expecting that. "I'm a Memphis girl, I love the Blues!" I say with a giggle.

"Really? I wouldn't peg you for a blues girl. Maybe a classic rock or country girl instead."

"I really just like music in general. I can listen to anything but rap really."

We talked until nearly 3:30 in the morning but I now know his favorite everything and he mine. I felt like a teenager again, only this time I had two really hot guys vying for my attention. It was pretty awesome to feel so wanted.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I am hopping through my house trying to get to the front door as I am putting my shoe on. Felix is at the door. Our date tonight is some sort of surprise for me. All he told me was to dress for a nice restaurant. So here I am in a black pencil skirt, a cream color chiffon top and black peep toe heels trying not to injure myself before I answer the door. When I get there I finally have my shoe on and I straighten my top that has slipped to one side showing a lot more of my left boob than I want to show. I answer the door while pulling my hair around to lie over my shoulder.

I am taken aback when I open the door to Felix who is dressed in a well-tailored black suit. His broad chest and muscular arms are nearly busting out of the jacket. He doesn't have a tie on and his pale blue dress shirt is unbuttoned at the top. He has his dark curly hair slightly messy but it still looks nice. I am taken by his blue-gray eyes. He checks me out and smiles. "You look amazing," he says.

"Thanks, you look pretty good yourself. Come in, I am almost ready to go," I offer.

He steps in, kissing my cheek as he passes. I show him to the living room and let him know I am grabbing a jacket. I feel his eyes on my ass as I hurry to my room to find a jacket. I find a black blazer and throw it on. My top has a low cowl neck and the blazer takes away from some of the sexiness of it. When I come out of the bedroom Felix is standing in the hallway. "Can I help you?" I ask wondering why he is waiting there.

"Can I use your restroom before we go?" He asks.

"Yes, of course. It is the next door on the left. I say pointing him the right direction. He moves a few steps out of his way to be close to me and wraps his large hand around my waist, once again kissing my cheek only this time he lingers a little. I assume he is hoping I will start a more intimate kiss. I am not going to at this point though and make no move to return his affection. He is very attractive and I definitely want to get to know him but I am not ready for a lot of intimacy at this point in the evening. He kisses my cheek again and then moves past me, slightly dragging his hand across my waist as he does.

When he closes the door I shake my head and move to the kitchen to gather my purse and phone. When I pick up my cell to place it in my purse I notice a text from Edward. I sigh. "Great timing you have," I say to myself. I debate on opening it but go ahead.

 _I am out of here in the am. We can meet up tomorrow evening if you want-HBE_

That sounds great. If you are going to be up for going out after traveling all day – SSB

 _I will be up for seeing you even after traveling all day_

Ok, you name the place and time and I will meet you

 _I was hoping to pick you up, if that's okay._

That's fine, what time?

 _When do you get home from work?_

5:30

 _Is 6:30 too early?_

Nope!

 _Ok I will pick you up at 6:30. Dress casual._

Ok. I'll send my address later.

 _Oh crap, sorry, I forgot about your date tonight._

No problem. Haven't left yet. I'll see you tomorrow.

 _Yes. See you tomorrow._

I smile and send a kissy face emoji. I feel kind of stupid doing that but I had this image of his disappointed face in my head and wanted to make him feel better.

Felix comes through the kitchen door and clears his throat as I drop my phone into my purse.

"Are you ready?" he asks.

"Yes. Where are you taking me?"

"A friend of mine is having an art show tonight. It is at the gallery on Central ave," he says nervously.

"That sounds interesting. I've never gone to an art show. What kind of work is it?" I ask.

"Well it is multi media but she warned me that it is a little risqué," he answers and now I see why he is nervous.

"Oh, well, okay."

"We can do something else if that makes you uncomfortable," he offers.

"No it's fine. Let's go."

I start to walk past him and he puts a hand on my lower back stopping me.

"Is everything okay?" he asks.

"Yes, why?"

"I saw you on your phone."

Oh, now I have to make a decision as to whether I tell him about Edward or not. I mean Edward knows about tonight's date so I guess I should be honest with Felix as well.

"Oh, I was talking to a man I am seeing. We were supposed to go out Saturday but he asked to see me tomorrow evening," I say hoping my tone is light.

"Oh. I didn't know you were seeing anyone else."

"Is that okay? I met him before I met you but we have only talked on the phone since the day we met."

"Is there anyone else?" he asks. Had his tone not been of disappointment I would have been offended.

"Nope. Just you and Edward. You and I have been on one date before tonight and Edward and I have not been on a date yet. I hope you understand that I just became single and I don't want to jump right into a relationship. I will be exclusive when I decide that I have found the right person. I hope you give me a chance to find that out."

He still looks a little disappointed but quickly covers and smiles. "I guess a little competition never hurt anyone." While I was talking I turned to face him. His hand that was on my back moved to my hip and he was barely touching me now. I run my hands up his arms to his neck and stand up on my tip toes. "No competition needed. Just let me make a decision based on who you really are." I kiss his chin since it is about all I can reach and he tilts his head to meet my lips with his. It is a light sweet kiss.

"I understand," he says. Then he kisses my forehead. I step back and he takes my hand in his; leading me out of my house.

We drive to the gallery, which looks like a hole in the wall place and I am not so sure about it. When we walk inside I am amazed by the sheer size of the space. It is classy and well-designed though. We are immediately greeted by a tall, leggy blonde with a body I would consider killing for. She hugs Felix with a familiarity that would make me jealous if I were that type of person. I am even sure that she kissed his neck. I stand awkwardly by watching. He pulls away from her and looks to me with an apologetic smile.

"Bella, this is Kate. She is the artist and also my ex-wife," he says and I am now feeling very insecure.

I give him a look that says, 'gee thanks for the heads up'. He shrugs and I shake my head.

"Kate, nice to meet you." I say.

"Bella. So you are the lovely lady Felix has been going on about?" she says, then she leans in close and says, "He seems quite taken with you."

I honestly don't know what to think. He hasn't mentioned anything about her other than he has two ex-wives. I am assuming this is wife #2 but I don't even know that much. We have only been on one date and had only a few phone conversations. I know we have a lot of physical chemistry but I am not sure that we have gotten to know each other enough to say one is "taken" with the other.

"So this is your art work? I'd love to see it," I say hoping to change the subject and get Felix to move.

"Yes. It is a very personal and intimate collection. I have never done anything so extensive. I hope you enjoy it. I must go mingle if I want to try to sell any of this stuff."

She takes my hand and pats the back of it. Then she turns and kisses Felix's cheek before flitting away like a beautiful fairy. I am completely baffled but the whole exchange.

"I am so sorry. I didn't really know how to tell you it was my ex-wife's show," he says, looking down at his shoes.

"I understand that, what I don't understand is why you didn't tell me you are still close with her," I say, fighting the urge to cross my arms and close myself off. "I mean it seems like you are quite friendly."

"She is my second wife. We were more like friends when we were together and our relationship was very short. We are still friends but that it all we are," he says.

"Okay so let's go check out this art," I say deciding to let it go. I am hoping that walking through the gallery will reduce the awkwardness of the situation. He turns and holds out an elbow for me to which I link my arm into. We head towards a series of paintings. The first of which is a portrait of whom I can only assume is Kate. The image is of her back with her long blonde hair tossed over her shoulder and her head turned so we are seeing her profile. She has her eyes closed and her mouth is slightly open.

The next painting is of a man's back. It is broad and muscular. The man's head is not included because the back takes up the entire canvas. The man has a narrow waist and the painting gives the illusion of complete nakedness. The way she captured the muscle tone is my first clue to her obvious talent. The next painting is of her face. She has her eyes closed and mouth open in an 'O' shape. At first glance I didn't see the detail of her arms framing her face. It looks like she must have been lying down with her arms over her head. As I take in the next painting I start to see a pattern in the images. The final painting in this group is the lower half of the man. His buttocks clinched and thighs contracted. His back appears to be bowed forward.

These four paintings are images of sex. She painted her face in the throes of passion. His body is shown from behind as if we are seeing only what he is doing to her. I have to say that the idea is pretty erotic. I look to Felix to see what he thinks. He looks a little unnerved. As if he is deciding whether to be bothered by the images. I wrap my arm around his waist and squeeze. He looks at me and moves us towards the next group.

The next is a series of photographs. These are all of various parts of a woman's body. They are beautiful and erotic but not pornographic. There is one of her shoulders as if we are looking across them from one side. The next is of her mid-section slightly flexed showing the sexy line down the center of her abdominal muscles. The next is of her hip from the perspective of the woman herself. Then there are photos of a breast and the nearly bare pubic mound and then inexplicably the top of her foot. Felix is still looking back to the paintings occasionally. I feel his hand on my hip where he is rubbing lightly.

We move on to the next exhibit, this one a large scale sculpture. There is no mistaking what we are looking at. This is Kate and a lover in the act of love making. She is straddling the man in the sculpture. She has her hands tangled in her own hair, lifting her hair off her neck. Her back is arched and breasts jutted out. You can almost sense the movement of her hips. Her legs are spread widely and her muscles taut. His legs are open and like the way her muscles are depicted his are in motion. She even included the way his scrotum would rise and fall in the motion. He is muscular and shaped like a Greek god. He has his hands on her hips, fingers pressed into her flesh. His face is that of pure ecstasy. I feel Felix's fingers dig into my hip and then he jerks his hand away. It is then I realize that he is the man in all her images. I am not sure whether to be jealous or turned on. He is beautiful. His body is amazing. Part of me wants to see the face he is making in the sculpture in person. Part of me wants to run and hide.

He is fuming. He is raking his fingers through his hair and muttering to himself. I approach him and try to get his attention. "Felix. Do you want to leave?" I ask.

"Yes. I think that is wise," he says sharply.

I look around hoping to find Kate. She sees the look on his face and makes her way over. As she approaches she says, "Felix. I'm sorry. I should have told you. I was just afraid you wouldn't come if I did."

He stops moving completely and looks her dead in the eye, "Kate, you took our private moments and made them public. You didn't ask me if this was okay. You used my image. Hell, my body is right there in stone!"

She starts to apologize again but he cuts her off, "Save it Kate, I don't want to hear it," he says before he takes my hand and pulls me out of the gallery.

We go to his car and he opens the door for me. I don't move to get in though. I feel the need to calm him down. I grab his hand so he can't walk away from me. I know he must feel violated so I'm not sure how to approach the situation. He turns to look me in the eye and I see the apology coming before he can even say anything.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea," he says.

"I know you didn't. It was beautiful. You are beautiful," I say, placing my hand on his cheek.

"You aren't offended?"

"Why would I be? I didn't know you then. You were married to her. I didn't realize it was you until you pulled away. I was very impressed with the art work," I say moving closer to him so that our bodies are touching. I am still quite turned on by the images. At this moment I need to touch him. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me as close to him as he can. I am breathing fast and can feel his breath on my cheek as he is deciding what he is going to do. Just when I think he is going to let me go he moves quickly to kiss me hard on the mouth. He invades my mouth and it is possibly the most erotic thing I've ever experienced. He presses my body against the open door and I can feel his arousal against my stomach. I can feel my body reacting to him too. My nipples are hardening and my nether regions are beginning to tingle.

We are full on making out in the parking lot. I am getting very caught up in the moment when Kate comes out the door. We are parked only a few spots from the building so she sees us and calls out to Felix. He tenses up and holds me tightly. He rests his forehead against mine. We are both breathing heavily.

"Felix. Please talk to me," she begs. I am annoyed but I can't bring myself to say anything. I tell him to go talk to her, that I will wait in the car. He reluctantly agrees.

I sit in his car and check my phone. I check Facebook and Instagram. I waste a good ten minutes. This is when I am instantly cooled off. I realize that if I didn't know Edward I would probably sleep with Felix soon. I don't have what I would call feelings for him but I definitely have an attraction to him. Edward though I feel a connection to and am undoubtedly attracted to him. I have to watch myself. This could get very complicated if I am not careful.

Just as I am thinking about this I spot Felix and Kate in the passenger side mirror. They are embracing. She is holding him tightly. He appears to be holding her the way he was just holding me. I watch as I see him dip his head to her and take her face in his hands. I am appalled when he kisses her. I am suddenly angry and before I can stop myself I am out of the car heading to where they stand. Now her leg is wrapped around his waist and he is undulating against her.

I don't even know what to say. So I just take out my phone and call for a cab. I am loud enough to draw their attention. He turns to me. I hold up my hands and walk away. Thank God my cab is quick to arrive. Felix tried to ask me to let him take me home. I told him not to worry about me. I told him to go inside the gallery with Kate. I told him to forget my number and to enjoy his wife.

I get into my cab leaving him standing on the curb. I don't look back as the cab drives away. I ask the driver to take me through a fast food drive through before taking me home. I don't allow myself to cry. What the hell do I have to cry about? I mean I barely knew the guy. I didn't have a relationship with him. I barely knew him. I make it all the way home with my greasy burger, fries and chocolate shake without shedding a single tear. I pay the cabbie and practically run inside my house.

I scarf down my meal realizing that I hadn't eaten since lunch and was starving. As I am finishing my shake the tears come. I don't understand how people throw me away so easily. I don't understand how someone can take me out, make out with me and then leave me to make out with someone else while I wait for them to return. I don't understand any of this.

As I cry I come to the realization that I am not the problem here. I am not the one causing any of this. I am a good person with a good heart that just trusts the wrong people. I also come to the realization that I am not going to be able to trust anyone now.

For those asking, I do not know who she is going to end up with but this chapter did not go at all the way I planned when I started writing. I would love to say that she and Edward are going to be together or not but I have no idea. So please enjoy the story and go along for this ride with me.

Thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. I appreciate those who are sticking with me here. Chapter 6 sort of pushed the plot along much faster than I had planned. So today we see how Bella picks herself up from the worst date ever and tries to move on. Enjoy!**

Chapter 7

"Bella, you can't close yourself off from everyone. I will not let you cancel your date tonight," Alice says sternly.

"Like hell I can't. I don't want to cancel tonight but come on Ali. I just went on a date with a guy who forgot I existed just 10 minutes after he had his tongue in my mouth."

I decided to take a sick day and spend the day sulking. I thought it was a good plan and one I deserved after last night. Alice came over to sit with me while I ate immoderate amounts of junk food. I added Bailey's to my morning coffee even. I was having myself a pity party and I didn't care if anyone knew.

Alice tried to get Rose to come over but I was pissed at Rose so I refused to allow it. I knew it wasn't Rose's fault that Felix ended up being a total pig but I was still mad at her. I was rational enough not to yell at her though. I, however, was not rational enough not to yell at Emmett. It was his friend after all. Apparently Felix called Emmett after I left the gallery. He told him what he did and Emmett threatened to beat his ass. Then Emmett called me this morning to apologize and see if I was okay.

I was definitely not okay. I was pissed off. I was hurt. I was rather indignant. I let Emmett know that I felt used and sort of disgusting. I couldn't believe it happened. Looking back, the whole night was a disaster in the making. I mean who the hell takes a date to an event hosted by his ex-wife. Why the fuck didn't he tell me he was still close with his ex-wife? What the hell was that? Did he kiss me like that to try to get her out of his head?

I asked Ali all these questions but she couldn't answer them. I considered calling Felix and asking him but I didn't really want to know. It was obvious he had feelings for her. It was even more obvious that her feelings were of more than a friendly nature and she really wanted him to see that. That was the only conclusion the Ali and I had for the exhibit's subject. I just happened to be starting a relationship, whatever it was, with the man she was trying to get back.

"Bella, please don't close yourself off to Edward. I am begging you to have an open mind," she begs.

"I want to Ali but I feel the need to question everything people tell me right now. I was already nervous about dating him because of his traveling. I can just imagine how hard this is going to be with him gone most of the time. I mean I can't even trust a guy to not cheat on me when I am 15 feet away let alone in another state," I say, finally letting my only real concern about Edward out into the open.

"Bells, unfortunately you are going to have to try if you want to get to know him. You said he wrapped up his meetings early to get home to see you. He didn't just move them up a day, babe, he moved them up three days. He was eager to see you. Now give the man a chance."

She has a point. He did rearrange his schedule to get home sooner. He has contacted me every day. He even texted me before he got on a plane 2 hours ago. "Mornin' Gorgeous, see you tonight" was all it said but it was sweet and if I hadn't been wallowing in my own pity I would have been much more excited about it.

"Ali, what if he is like James? What if he is all flattery and sweet, romantic gestures but he is fooling around behind my back?" I say voicing the basis of all my fears now. "I mean, James made me his everything and he still cheated."

"You can't know that Bells. James is a good man who got caught up by a manipulative woman. He did love you and I believe still does. Please don't doubt that. I am the least forgiving person you know, I still want to murder him but I totally believe he got taken by that crazy bitch. You did nothing wrong. You are a beautiful, intelligent, giving, kind-hearted, loving, amazing woman. Any man would be damned lucky to have you. Let Edward prove himself to you. Let him try to deserve your trust. Tell him what happened and see what his reaction is. Be honest with him."

She takes the bag of chips from my hand and sets it on the coffee table. "Now get up, get in the shower and get your ass ready for this date tonight."

"I still have like four hours!" I say laughing.

"Right! How about we go to the gym and then get you ready for this date?" she says with a laugh. I dust my hands off and stand up.

"Let me get my stuff and we can go kick the crap out of a heavy bag."

I stand before the mirror in my bathroom in only a towel. My hair is wet and dripping down my arms. My arms are tight and toned from the work outs. I unwrap the towel and look at myself. My stomach is getting very toned. I almost have a four pack. My hips are still round and feminine but more toned. My legs are long and lean like they always were but now I can see the definition of the thigh muscle when I stand on my tiptoes. My breasts are full and round even though they are only a B cup. I think they are pretty nice. My shoulders are stronger and just looking at all the things I like about my body makes me stand straighter and more confidently. "I am looking pretty good," I say to myself.

I towel dry my hair and then wrap the towel around myself before going to my room to get dressed. Edward said casual so Alice and I decided on a pair of skinny jeans and a simple baby blue v-neck t-shirt. It falls just below my waist band and is just fitted enough to show my figure without being clingy. I choose a matching bra and panty. I wasn't planning on anyone seeing it but like Alice says, "those pretties are to make you feel more confident". I wiggled myself into the jeans and finished my look with a pair of blue Vans.

Alice helped me with my hair and make-up. I wore my hair down and straight and put a hair tie on my wrist. We kept my make-up light and simple since I had no idea where we were going.

At five-thirty my phone rang. "Hello handsome," I say.

"Hi, how was your day?" Edward asks.

"Better now. I'll tell you about it later," I answer.

"Oh no. Well I wanted to let you know we are going to be down at the river so you could dress for it," he says, "I was informed that it isn't nice to plan a date without letting a woman know how to dress."

"Haha, who told you that? Besides you told me casual yesterday."

"My sister. She said that if I was taking you to the river I needed to make sure you knew what we were doing so you could dress appropriately. So we are going to be hanging out at the shore, I planned on just going for a walk but we could go fishing if you are into that."

"Fishing? I haven't fished in years. That could be fun. Sounds like a country date," I say with a laugh while Alice wrinkles her nose at the thought of fishing.

"Yeah, well I am a country boy at heart so I guess it is a fitting description," he says exaggerating his drawl.

"Well I am ready now if you are so I'll text you my address and you are welcome to come early," I offer.

"That could work. I have to make one quick stop but we can do that together if you want."

"Sounds good to me; see you in a bit," I say.

"Okay. Bye," he says hanging up.

I text him my address and grab a sweatshirt. Edward texts back saying he should arrive in ten minutes. I start to get nervous. Alice calms me down, by reminding me that I just need to be open and honest with him, before leaving.

I decide to wait on the porch for him. When he pulls up in a big Chevy truck I almost laugh. It was not what I expected. I know he is from eastern Kentucky but he just doesn't come off as a country boy. He steps out in a pair of dark jeans and a fitted gray button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The top three buttons are open revealing a black t-shirt underneath. He is wearing cowboy boots with his jeans pulled down over them.

"Wow, cowboy, where's the hat?" I say with a whistle and a laugh. He throws his head back a little and laughs.

"It's in the truck. Didn't want to overwhelm you with all this on the first date," he says jokingly. He lifts his shirt up in the front to reveal a gold belt buckle. I laugh out loud.

"Wow, this is not at all what I had pictured but I like it," I say lightly but inside I am dying. He is so unbelievably sexy. The cowboy look is a definite plus. His hair is messy on top letting the sun illuminate the rich auburn brown locks. He is tall and trim but in this shirt I can see the definition of his arms and chest enough to know that he is well built and strong. His legs are long and lean, his jeans aren't tight but I can tell he is athletic.

"Well you look pretty hot in those jeans. I am a sucker for a girl in a plain t-shirt and jeans," he says walking up my porch to greet me with a hug. "This is the first time I am seeing your hair down and I must say that I love it. Country boys like girls with long hair."

"Good to know. Are you ready to go?" I ask, feeling uncomfortable at the compliments.

"Yes ma'am. We have to make a stop to pick up our dinner but that won't take but a minute. I hope you like BBQ."

"Umm, grew up in Memphis, I am required to love BBQ," I say with total seriousness.

"Oh really? I had no idea it was required."

"Yep, says so right on my birth certificate. I think they feed newborns BBQ sauce in their bottles," I add.

He grins and offers me his elbow. I link my arm in his and he has to help me up into his truck. It's not that high of a climb but these jeans were not made for climbing. I don't mind though because he practically lifts me right off the ground and sits me in the seat.

He jogs around and climbs into the cab. We head to Central BBQ and he runs inside to get our order. When he comes back he has a huge bag and two large cups. He hands me the cups and then sets the bag in the back seat. "I hope you like sweet tea," he says.

"Well yeah, I'm a southern girl," I say with a smirk.

"Right, required I forgot," he says shaking his head. I am really enjoying our banter.

We head to the river and on the way we talk about his home in Kentucky. He is from Ashland and went to Eastern Kentucky University. He has only lived in Memphis for a year. He tells me about fishing with his dad and I tell him about getting pulled into the creek by a turtle when I was fishing with mine as a kid.

When we get to where he deems a good spot, he opens the tailgate of the truck and helps me up. We have a picnic in the bed of the truck. I have to say, it is a great time. Once we finish eating our pulled pork and potato salad we hop down and go for a walk. We decide to forego fishing for the time being.

We get as close to the bank of the river as we can. He holds my hand and helps me when I stumble over rocks and tree roots. After we have told every embarrassing childhood story we have, he asks how my date went last night. I stop walking and sit down on the roots of a large tree, leaning against the trunk.

"It was just awful," I start.

"Oh no, I'm sorry," he says.

"Don't be. You didn't do it. How much do you want to hear?" I ask.

"I'll listen to whatever you have to say," he says sitting down next to me.

"Well he started the date being a little overly affectionate but that wasn't too bad. Then we went to a "friends" art show," I say making air quotes around the word friend. "When we get there he is greeted by a gorgeous woman who hugs him and kisses his neck. I can handle that though because it was only our second date. But then I find out that she is the artist friend who just happens to be his ex-wife!"

"What? Why would he take you to that?" he questions.

"My thoughts exactly, but wait there's more. He apparently talks to her often because she knew about me, even told me he is taken with me. So we look at her work, which by the way is amazing and erotic and all images of her naked body with a lover," I stop to see if he is still with me or if he has made the connection I didn't make at first.

"Don't tell me," he says, letting me know that he has already guessed where this is going.

"Ugh, yes! The lover is my date. She painted his body and then to top it all off she has a full scale sculpture in the exhibit of them having sex. I mean graphically depicting them together. He gets mad and we try to leave," I now debate telling him the rest but then Alice's voice echoes in my head.

"So we go to the car where I try to comfort him because he obviously had no idea she had used his image or what we were going to see. We start kissing and things are getting a little heated when she comes outside and calls to him, begging him to talk to her. Rather than telling him to get in the car I decide to urge him to go talk to her. He does. He leaves me there for ten minutes."

"I hope he told her where to go," he says, sounding like a friend rather than a guy interested in dating me.

"Nope he ends up making out with her right there in the parking lot with me waiting. I called a cab and told him to forget my number."

"Good. Fucking bastard! Are you okay?" he says looking me in the eye.

"I am now. I couldn't believe it and I was pretty pissed off but Alice talked me through it," I say, "She told me to give you a chance. I was ready to cancel our date and just never date again."

"You do have a bad track record but you know what, I would love to change that for you."

"I hope you can. I just want you to know that I may have some trust issues and I am not going to forgive easily," I say cautiously.

"So I can't screw up then," he says with a grin but then gets very serious, "I won't hurt you, Bella."

"Prove it," I dare.

"Let me tell you a story. I told you I was dating someone for seven months. I didn't tell you what happened," he starts and I nod, "She seemed like the perfect girl. She was a friend of my sister's from college. We had been introduced at Tanya's graduation party. I instantly liked her. She was funny and cute. We spent some time together and after a few dates decided to be exclusive."

"Did she cheat on you?" I ask, guessing where he is going with this.

"Yes, right from the start but I didn't see it. Jessica was one of those people who just drew people in. She was vibrant and you just couldn't help but like her. Well we got pretty serious pretty fast, even moving in together after a month. We both worked crazy hours and I was out of town part of the time, though not as much as now. After about six months I started noticing she wasn't returning my calls as quickly and we weren't being intimate as often. I decided to try to be home more often to see if that was the problem. She had gotten upset when I told her I had a trip coming up on our seventh month anniversary so as a surprise I cancelled it. I left in the morning like I would normally do and instead of getting on a plane I went to the florist and got a dozen red roses. I bought a ring and came back home to surprise her."

"No! Please no," I say.

"Yep, I come in the house and hear her in the bedroom. At first I think she is alone so I am kind of excited that she is obviously pleasuring herself and I get to interrupt. I get all the way to the bedroom door when I hear him. He is my high school friend, Alec. I open the door to confirm what I am hearing. There on my bed is my girlfriend and my best friend. She is on all fours and he is behind her with her hair in his hands. They have the decency to stop what they are doing when they see me. I am an idiot with the flowers and ring in my hand. She is taking it up the ass while I am preparing to propose to her. I was mortified and angry. I dropped the flowers and threw the ring box at Alec's head. I screamed at them both to leave my house."

"Oh Edward, that is awful."

'Right! I kicked her out and never spoke to either of them again. I found out later that she had been with about five other guys while we were together. I got tested for every imaginable disease; thankfully all my tests were clean. I hated women for a long while. I only dated to get laid for about six months and even then it was very rarely. I was done with dating."

"What changed your mind? I don't know how you recover from that," I ask, wondering because I don't think I was a traumatized as he was and I am still struggling.

"You; seeing you at that ball game with that dude just ignoring you. I couldn't help myself. I watched you almost the whole third inning. Then when you noticed me all I could think of was meeting you. I was so happy and so nervous when you got up to go to the concession stand. I knew it was my chance."

I am stunned. He just admitted that he is basically in the same place I am and that he wants to try to start again with me of all people.

"I am so glad I met you that day," I say.

"Look Bella, I know you have been hurt and even though I don't know the details of your marriage, I want you to know that I will never hurt you like that. I will never put someone else through what I went through," he stands up in front of me.

I look up at him and all I can think is I believe him.

"I have my own trust issues and maybe together we can work through them. Maybe we can trust each other not to hurt the other and just see where this goes," he says offering me his hand. I take it and let him pull me to stand.

I wrap my arms around his waist and he does the same to me. We are as close as we can get. I look up to his face and say, "I trust you. I won't hurt you either."

He smiles brightly and kisses my forehead. "Good. Now let's walk before it gets dark and we get lost."

We walk holding hands for a ways before turning and heading back to his truck. Not much else is said but it isn't awkward. Every so often he would stop and wrap his arms around me as we watched the river. I start to get chilly and realize that I have forgotten my sweatshirt.

"Are you cold?" he asks noticing the goose bumps on my arms.

"A little. I had a sweatshirt but I must have left it at home."

He bends down in front of me and says, "Climb on! I'll get us back to the truck quickly." I laugh and hop up on his back. He straightens up and hooks his arms around my legs which I wrap around his waist hooking my ankles. He takes off in a jog and we are back to his truck in no time. We laughed the whole way. He is winded when he sets me down on the bed of the truck and tells me to stay. He opens the back door of the cab and pulls out a hoodie. When he comes around to the back again he hands it to me. I immediately put it on. It swallows me but I love it because it smells like him.

He is standing in front of me and grinning like a fool. "You look good in my shirt."

He reaches out to straighten out the hood and I hook my thumbs into the hem of his shirt. I pull him closer to me so that he is standing in between my legs. I want so badly to kiss him and feel him against me but fear is telling me to take it slow. He locks his eyes with mine and the heat is intense. The air around us has changed; you can almost feel a crackle of electricity.

"May I kiss you, Bella?"

"Please," I answer. No sooner was the word out of my mouth than were his lips on mine. The kiss was strong and full of passion but not rushed or forceful. He melded his lips to mine and his body relaxed into mine so that his hips were pushing my legs further apart. His hands were in my hair, gripping and pulling lightly. I hooked my arms under his and held onto his shoulders. Our tongues tangled as we explored each other. When we needed to breathe we pulled away and his lips moved to my neck. I tilted my head back to give him access. Suddenly I was so hot. I pulled the hoodie off and tossed it to the bed of the truck. This gave him even more access to my collar bone and eliminated the heavy fabric barrier between us. I could feel his hot hands through my thin t-shirt along my back and sides. He was careful not to get too close to my breasts but I don't think I would have minded him touching me there.

I moved my hands to the front of his shirt where I found his button down to actually be snaps. I started to pull them open hesitantly. He felt my hesitation and pulled back. When he looked at me I smiled and yanked the shirt open. He had a t-shirt on but it was thin like mine so I could see feel chest through it. I pulled him close to me again and attacked his mouth. I wrapped my arms around his waist again but this time under the over shirt. His muscles were so defined and strong but not bulky. We kissed until the heat started to change to a less hurried pace and we were simply holding each other. He was still between my legs but the way we were sitting our lower bodies weren't touching much. I started to shiver again and he chuckled.

"I guess it's time to get you out of the cold," he says stepping back and adjusting himself as discreetly as he can. I grin and he shakes his head. "Put that hoodie on, I'll never make it home if you don't cover those up."

I look down to see that I am obviously turned on and cold and my thin t-shirt and white bra are not covering much. I laugh and put the hoodie on. He helps me down from the tailgate and walks me to the passenger door. He picks me up and places me inside the cab. Before he can walk away I say, "Thank you; for this, for everything."

"My pleasure and this is only the beginning."

Chapter End Notes:

For those wanting a ExB HEA! Before I sat down to write this chapter I wasn't sure how long it would take to get there but then as I wrote Edward's back story I realized that maybe it wouldn't take so long. Don't get me wrong there will be bumps in the road and hurdles they have to jump but they will get there. I had intended to have Bella date a bit more but I guess that will be out of the window now too! Let me know what you think. Should she throw caution to the wind and just go for it with Edward?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I am on cloud nine. I have floated through this entire day. Not even a major computer crash could bring me down today, although it tried. I feel lighter even. I got an embarrassing display of roses delivered to me at work from Edward. I also got a sad little bouquet of daisies from Felix that I gave to the receptionist because the flowers were beautiful but the gesture was pathetic. She loved them and didn't even care why I gave them up.

The roses were multicolored which I thought was interesting. There were white, yellow, pink, orange and red all mixed together. It was just lovely. There had to have been at least thirty roses in the vase. The note attached was quite simple, "Only the beginning! E" I loved it.

I didn't even let my insecurities get me down today. I did call Alice and tell her thank you for getting me to keep my date. She wanted details and while part of me wanted to be a sixteen-year-old girl and spill, a bigger part of me wanted him all to myself. I didn't tell her much, only that we talked about the stuff that hurt us and decided to see how things go. She seemed to be content with that information. I did tell her about the flowers and she is determined to figure out the "hidden" message in the colors of the roses. I think he just picked out a bunch of colorful roses and probably doesn't even know the meanings; I know I don't. I won't stop her though because it will likely be a bunch of nonsense.

It is Thursday and I have nothing to do this evening. I decide to stop at the grocery store on my way home and pick up the makings of a chicken Caesar salad for dinner. I grab a trashy romance novel while I'm there. When I pull in my driveway I hear my phone ping. I have a text message from Edward.

 _Whatcha doing tonight? E_

I grin as I type back, _Eating a salad and reading_.

 _Sounds relaxing_

 _Yep, considering throwing in a bubble bath for extra relaxation._

 _Mmmm, sounds inviting._

I have a mini freak out thinking he is saying he wants to join me. I debate on testing that thought but decide against it. Before I can think of a good reply he texts again.

 _I didn't mean INVITE like it sounding. Sorry!_

 _Yeah, I was only freaking out a little bit._

 _I figured, when you didn't reply right away._

 _Are you busy tomorrow night?_

 _Nope_

 _Wanna come over for dinner? I make a mean fettuccini alfredo._

 _That sounds lovely. 6 too early?_

 _Nope that would be perfect._

 _Ok great. See you then._

 _Text me later tonight if you want._

 _Ok, good night Bella._

 _Night Edward._

I hurried inside and checked my fridge for all the ingredients just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I seemed to have what I needed so I made my salad and took it to my living room to eat. I found some competition show on TV and quickly got sucked in. Who knew watching people try to complete an obstacle course would be so entertaining. It made me want to work harder at the gym. When that was over and I had cleaned up my dishes I decided to go ahead and take that bubble bath.

I sat soaking in the tub for a long while, nearly falling asleep, when my phone chirped from the counter across the room. I got out and checked to see that is was Edward. I dried off and dressed in a long t-shirt and panties and climbed into my bed. Once I was settled I dialed Edward's number.

"Hey, I was beginning to think you were asleep."

"Na, I had to get out of the tub and get dressed." I say.

"So how did your relaxing evening go? Are you relaxed?" he asks.

"Very. Although I didn't read my book because I got all caught up in this Ninja warrior thing."

"Oh yeah, I love that show. Those people are crazy strong."

"Right! They have fingers stronger than my legs!" I say. "I would love to try that sometime. I wonder if there are any clubs around that train for it?"

"A bunch actually. I looked it up after watching it one night last year," he says sounding sheepish.

"Ooh, maybe we could check it out one day?"

"Okay, that could be interesting."

We talked for a while about things that would be totally boring if it weren't Edward. Our conversation about American Ninja Warrior led us to what type of exercise we do, then to our favorite gym shoes and finally to some odd discussion about today's active wear fashion. He thinks the fashion industry is capitalizing on women's need to one-up each other and I think they just make cute clothes that are perfect for working out. We agreed to disagree about it.

After a little innocent flirting, we said good night and hung up. I fell asleep easily and had a few not so innocent dreams of Edward and the gym. I woke up feeling a little frustrated and had to relieve a little stress in the shower before work.

At work, I was very busy. We had a huge intake of kids that had gotten in trouble at a school function. There was a brawl and the kids we were managing today had been charged with battery and assault. Most of them were first offences but there were a handful who had prior charges and were looking at detention. We ended up taking 3 of the 5 into our program and began their cases today. The other 2 had to deal with the judge and hope for the best. They just had too many violent offences in their past to allow into the program. One was already involved in some gang activity and the other was close behind. I tried to get him into the program but with more than five convictions he was not approved. It breaks my heart because he really has no help at home and has all but dropped out of high school. This is a kid that is going to be in jail, in a gang or dead within a few years and there is nothing I can do to help him.

The busyness of the day meant that five o'clock snuck up on me. I didn't even realize what time it was until I looked out in the case workers offices and noticed nearly everyone was gone. I packed up and practically sprinted to my car. I wanted to stop and pick up some Italian bread on my way home so I needed to hurry.

I managed to stop at the store and get the bread, more salad ingredients and a frozen pie. I made it home and started dinner just in time for Edward to knock on my door. I turned the heat down on the chicken while I went to let him in. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and I led him into the kitchen. He brought a bottle of white wine and I got us glasses. I cooked while he watched. We talked and drank. After about 15 minutes of watching me work he stood up and started washing the dishes in the sink I had placed there while cooking.

"You don't have to do that. I will load up the dishwasher after I get the sauce made," I said.

He laughed, "I can handle it. You're doing all the cooking and I felt like a jerk just sitting there watching you, so just humor me."

"Okay. I appreciate the help," I said leaning over to kiss his cheek. Once the sauce and noodles were done I tossed everything together in a big bowl. Then I took out the salad I had placed in the fridge and the bread from the oven. Edward found the plates and silverware in the cabinets without even asking me and set the table. He filled out glasses while I filled up plates.

"Bon appétit!" I exclaimed.

"This looks amazing. The scent had my stomach growling."

"Well dig in already!" I said.

He spun his noodles around his fork using a spoon and took a large bite. The moan he emitted after swallowing was sinful. I had to remind myself that it was not polite to stare while someone was eating. He had a little bit of sauce on his chin that I wanted to lick off but he was perfectly content eating for the time being.

I forced myself to cut up my own food and start eating. We spoke very little during the meal because we both seemed to be starving. It only took us about fifteen minutes to finish up. We then cleaned up the kitchen together. It was quite nice to have someone help me out in the kitchen.

After the dishes were loaded and the dishwasher started, Edward went to the living room while I went to change out of my work clothes.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" I asked after returning to the living room in yoga pants and a t-shirt.

"Sure, what do you have?"

"Hmmm, I have a lot of movies from the early 2000's," I said, realizing that most of my movie collection went with James.

"Do you have a favorite of those?" he asked.

"Actually, I do. Ever heard of _Empire Records_?"

"With Liv Tyler and Renee Zellweger?" he asked.

"Yes! Have you seen it?"

"Once a long time ago. My sister loved that movie and use to watch it all the time."

"Oh well then we are going to watch it tonight," I said pulling it out and setting up the DVD player.

Once I got the movie loaded I joined Edward on the couch. He was sitting on the end with one arm draped over the back of it. I fitted myself right in the crook of his shoulder and he immediately wrapped his arm over my shoulders. We fit together like two puzzle pieces. We laughed at the same parts and I cried when Corey freaks out and we both sang along with the Rex Manning song.

I end up sort of laying with my head on Edward's stomach after he stretched out his legs propping his feet on my coffee table. He was sweet about it though, asking permission and taking off his shoes. He kept his hand on my arm or my side and at one point was playing with my hair. I have a feeling he is going to be easy to fall for.

As the movie comes to a close and Gina is singing on the roof of the store, neither of us make any effort to move. In fact, we discuss watching another movie. This time we settle on the ever fabulous, _Varsity Blues_. We decided to lay down on the couch together for this one. He lays in the back of the couch and I curl into him. I fit right under his chin and our bodies line up so that our hips perfectly spoon. He places his hand on my stomach and as the movie plays he rubs small circles with his thumb. Occasionally, he places a kiss on my head. I turn to lay on my back as much as I can and he lifts onto his elbow. I decide to ignore the movie and initiate a little make-out session. I don't have to do much; reaching up and touching his face gets him to look down at me. I move my hand into his soft hair and gently pull him to me. The kiss it soft and sweet at first. I tease his lips with mine. After only a minute of that he holds me tightly and gives me a searing kiss. I am completely lost to the sensation of his mouth on mine. His tongue is searching my mouth and I can feel his weight begin to press into me. I turn my body so that I am facing him, part of me wants to feel him on top of me but the more rational part is saying to proceed with caution.

I run my hand up his chest. I'm not sure what to do with the other arm that is now trapped between us. I enjoy the feel of his abs contracting as he moves lightly against me. Every time we break for air, he moves his lips to my neck. I know I am starting to breath heavily but I couldn't care less at this point. I know we should probably slow down but as my fingers start to inch under his t-shirt his do the same to mine. Neither of make a move to explore. I tease the skin just above his waist line and he traces the skin of my lower back. Our kissing slows and we just lie there holding each other.

The voice of James Van Der Beek breaks thru alerting us to the end of the movie. I groan, knowing that he is going to have to leave.

"I don't want to go," he says holding me tighter.

"I don't want you to," I say,

"Tomorrow is Saturday," he says.

"Yeah. You could stay if you wanted. I mean, just to sleep," I find myself saying before I could stop the words. I feel stupid as soon as the words leave my mouth.

"I would love that. I mean, if you are sure that you are okay with it," he says loosening his hold on me. I tilt my head up and find that he is sincere. I can tell him to leave right now and he will be okay with it. I think for a minute about that.

I want him to stay with me but is it really the right thing to do at this point. I mean we just started dating. This is technically only our second date. I want to let him hold me tonight though and I trust that he won't try to take things further.

"Bella. Are you freaking out right now?" he asks.

"Not freaking out; just thinking it through."

"I think we should see each other tomorrow. I'll go home and have a few inappropriate dreams of you and you will hopefully do the same of me. Then tomorrow night I will take you out to dinner."

"That sounds like a plan. I'm sorry for making this awkward," I say.

"Don't be sorry. I have a feeling it is going to be difficult not to rush this relationship. I know parts of me are ready to move right along," he says with a chuckle.

"I agree. Part of me wants to just throw caution to the wind and go all in, but the rational adult in me is tapping the brakes. Thanks for being so good to me," I say kissing his chin.

"I kind of like ya' babe. I kind of like ya' a lot," he says making me giggle.

"Yeah, I kind of like you too," I reply. He tickles me and kisses my cheeks. The silliness turns serious quickly when he looks me directly in the eye and says, "I can see myself falling for you, Bella."

I don't answer, instead I kiss him with all the passion I have. His body shifted and he is partially covering me, his thigh between mine. I hold him tight and try to physically show him how much he means to me already. My hands are pulling at his hair and he has run his hands up the inside of my shirt along my sides. My body tingles where he has touched it. I can feel his hardness against my hip and wonder if he can feel the heat coming from my sex. My nipples have hardened and are straining against my t-shirt. His chest is pressed into mine and his thumb is rubbing the side of my breast. My whole body is on fire. When my need to breath outweighs the desire to ravage him, I pull away. His kisses move to my neck and this time he dips lower onto my collar bone. His thumb is still rubbing the side of my boob and I am silently praying that he will be bold and go for a full feel. When he begins to suck lightly on my collar bone, I arch my back. He sucks a little harder and moves his hand to fully cup my breast.

I know he will likely leave a hickey but the feel of him like this is so nice. I run my hands down his back to the hem of his t-shirt and pull it up as I go. I take a moment to think it through and then pull it up to his arm pits. He gets the hint and sits up. He reaches behind his head and pulls the shirt off with one hand. When he tosses it aside, I sit up and peel mine off as well. The intake of breath from both of us when we take each other in makes us both smile. Before I can over think the position I am in now, he lunges forward and captures my mouth again. Our kisses are passionate but not hurried. He is taking his time to feel me. My bare chest is pressed against his. His body is beautiful. Strong and muscular like I imagined. His skin is soft and smooth. He has a patch of light brown hair on his chest and a thin trail running down his abdomen. He kisses down my neck and onto my upper chest. He cups my breast with his hand and rubs his thumb over my nipple. I arch into his hand. As his hand plays with my right breast his mouth moves closer to my left. He has slid down my body to put his face even with my bare skin. He looks up at me, silently asking permission. I nod my consent. He holds my gaze as he begins placing light kisses along the top of my left breast. He kisses the entire area before moving to the nipple. He continues to watch me as his tongue sneaks out and flicks my nipple. I jerk up and into his mouth.

He closes his mouth around me and sucks. I can't help the moan that escapes me. We continue like that for a short while; stopping only when we were both undulating against each other. If we had continued I know I would have had an orgasm just from the friction. When he pulls away he looks down at me and says, "You are so beautiful."

I don't know what to say and I am sure that I blush. He stands up and hands me my top. I pull it on as I stand up. He goes to the bathroom and I take a moment to breath. It is well past midnight by this point. I want to go ahead and ask him to stay but I know that I will not be able to keep from jumping him if he comes to my room right now.

He emerges from the bathroom and kisses my cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow," he says pulling me in for a hug.

"What time?" I ask.

"Two o'clock. Dress casually. I have tickets to a Red Birds game."

"Oh, as in where we met?" I ask, liking the idea.

"Yes ma'am. Best game I've ever been to," he says with a smirk.

"Okay. Are you picking me up or should I come to you?"

"I'll text you my address. I want you to see my apartment."

"Good night," I say into his chest.

"Good night, beautiful," he says, kissing the top of my head, "Sweet dreams."

I kiss him once more and then let him leave. I watched from my porch as he pulled away. After locking up the house, I headed to my room, where I stripped out of my clothes and climbed into my bed. I let the images of our heated kissing come to mind and traced my hand down my chest. I teased my nipples as I imagined his mouth on me. I slipped my other hand down my body to my aching pussy. As soon as I came in contact with my clit my body buckled. I was slick with arousal so my fingers slid easily through my lower lips. I rubbed a few tight circles against my swollen clit and my orgasm took over. I cried out Edward's name as my body convulsed in pleasure.

 **I hope you enjoyed this one. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Since Edward was taking me to a Redbirds game at Autozone Park I debated wearing the sundress I wore to the game when we met but decided to go full fan girl and went shopping for some Redbirds gear instead. I got a cute fitted top with a V-neck that I paired with a pair of short but not slutty jean shorts and a belt. I curled my hair on the ends and left it loose around my shoulders. I bought a hat and figured I would put it in a low ponytail and pull it through the back of the cap for the game if I felt like it. I slipped into some flip flops and grabbed my bag. I wasn't sure what else he had planned for the night so I took a pair of skinny jeans and a black off the shoulder top that I usually pair with a big turquoise belt and sandals. I got in my car and drove the twenty minutes to Edward's apartment.

The South Line Central Station Apartments had a reputation for being some of the nicest in town and pulling up I could see why. The grounds were immaculate and the buildings were beautiful. I texted Edward to let him know I was there and pulled into the spot he told me to. He came down and met me at the entrance to the building with a kiss. He took my bag from me and chuckled. "What do you have in here?"

"Not much, just a change of clothes in case this wasn't appropriate for whatever came after the game, if anything," I said waving my hand over my body.

He smiled and shook his head. "You look amazing and I have nothing specific planned so we can just play it by ear. I was going to see if you wanted to walk to the game or drive though seeing you are in flip flops we may want to drive."

"How far is it from here?" I asked.

"About a mile," he replied, "just on the other side of Beale Street. We could stop there for dinner and drinks there on the way back if you want."

"That would be fine. I think I can walk a mile in these shoes," I say sticking my foot out wiggling it.

He smiles and takes my hand leading me up to his apartment. When he opens the door I am surprised by how inviting it is. The room is white and clean but not sterile feeling. There is an office to the left and then a large open kitchen and living area. The kitchen is top of the line and I can picture him cooking in it. There is a large area dark brown area rug with turquoise accents in it in the living room and the entire room is decorated to match. The couch is a sectional. There is an island in the kitchen that doubles as the dining area. The counter tops are brown granite with gold flecks. The whole room is so warm and inviting. There is a small balcony off the living room with a couple chairs and a small table that looks out over a pool and hot tub. When we walk back inside he shows me his room and to my surprise it is decorated in black and white. The furniture is all black and the bedding and curtains are all white. The rug is black and there is a large canvas on the wall where a headboard would be that is an abstract black and white painting. The Bathroom is decorated in black, white and has a splash of cobalt blue.

There are very little personal items out. A single family picture of his family. He is leaning against the bedroom door watching me with a smile on his face. "Are you ready to go? The game starts in forty minutes," he asks.

"Yeah. Just one thing first," I say as I wrap my arms around his waist and kiss his chin. He lowers his head so I can kiss his lips.

"Mmm, maybe we'll just stay here," he says, licking his lips.

"Yeah that's probably not a good idea just yet," I say with a giggle.

"You're probably right, but it would be a lot of fun!" he says raising one eyebrow. I can't help but shake my head.

"You are a bad influence. Here I am trying to take it slow and be a good girl and you are all trying to corrupt me."

He laughs loudly and smacks my butt. "Who's trying to corrupt who, little miss short shorts?"

I try to look offended but I knew these were on the sexy side so I can't and knowing that they affect him is worth it.

I just shrug my shoulders and grab his hand leading him to the door. He puts on his ball cap and I decide to do the same. He gives me a look that says 'not helping' and adjusts himself. I blush and mouth 'really'.

"Yes! That hat, the pony tail, the shorts, the whole package is a total turn on. You are effectively killing me right now."

"Good to know. You look pretty hot yourself in your khaki shorts and jersey. Gotta say I love the ball cap even if I do love your hair."

We flirt and talk all the way to the ball park. We found our seats down by the dugout and settled in for the game. Edward remembered that I was not really a baseball girl and explained what I didn't know. He let me ask all kinds of stupid questions without getting irritated. He bought me a stupid foam finger. He saved me from a foul ball, twice. Then he gave the balls to the kids that were sitting near us, which was completely adorable. We got on the kiss cam once! I don't think there was more than 5 minutes that went by where we weren't touching the entire game. The Redbirds won and then we left.

I have not smiled this much in years. I mean I thought I was happy with James. I was content with him. This is downright joyful! I am freaking giddy.

We walked to Beale Street and had dinner at Itta Bena. I had the grilled salmon and he had the duck and waffles. Being from Memphis I had never been there but it was really a cool place. The food was awesome and the atmosphere was a cross between an upscale restaurant and a jazz club. After a few drinks we head down to the street to hang out for a while. It is fairly early still and the crowds hadn't really rolled in but the bands were setting up. We stopped into some of the shops and bought some homemade fudge. We sat and listened to a guy play some blues and Edward surprised me by playing a little acoustic guitar with him. Chris Stapleton's Tennessee Whiskey never sounded as good as hearing Edward singing it right to me on Beale St. He and this street performer drew quite a crowd but Edward didn't seem to notice. Honestly I didn't even see a single person around until he was finished singing and then I was so ready to get home at that point I didn't care who was watching.

So when he hands the guy back his guitar and the crowd is applauding I am wiping away tears. The couple next to me says something about me being really lucky that he is mine. I nod and say something along the lines of "I had no idea he could sing or play." He thanks the guy and nods to the crowd before making his way over to me. He just gently takes my hand and kisses my lips softly. I hear the crowd make a collective awe sound with a few wolf whistles mixed in. Then we turn towards the end of the block and walk away.

"That was like something out of a romantic comedy right there! I had no idea you could play!" I say excitedly.

He blushes. I mean red ears all the way down his neck. "Yeah I learned from my dad and just started playing with the radio till I could play almost anything that I heard. It's like a form of therapy for me."

"Well that voice didn't just come from singing with the radio," I said.

"No, I took piano lessons from my mom for most of my childhood and with that came voice lessons but she didn't like when I started singing blues instead of classical. Said I was ruining my voice. I hated classical music. I respect it but it wasn't for me. So I started playing old 50's era rock and roll then progressed to blues and loved it."

His eyes lit up as he spoke so I knew it was something he really loved. "Well I must say it was quite a turn on to watch you," I said.

"Oh really? I guess I should remember that then, huh?" He said raising one eyebrow. I just giggled and elbowed him in the side.

We talked about his love of all things Elvis and how people underestimated what a good singer Presley actually was in the early days. It was fun to see a different side of him. Before I knew it we were back at the apartment.

Once inside I excused myself to use the restroom and straightened up my hair having abandoned my ball cap on the way home. I let my hair down and ran my fingers through the long strands. I washed my hands and headed back out to the kitchen area where Edward was fixing us drinks.

"Sweet tea okay?" he asks.

"Yes sir. I am parched and that sounds perfect," I reply, my accent thicker than usual. His grin tells me he notices.

"I'll bet you still call your mom 'momma'," he wagers.

I grin. "Sometimes, but I always call my father 'daddy'. Don't you?"

"Not really, he is dad but she will always be Momma," he leans his elbows on the counter and we are only inches from each other. "How about your grandma? Nana or Granny?" he asks.

"Nana on my daddy's side and Nannie on my Mom's. You?"

"One of each. Grandad says we should call my dad's mom old lady but he's just mean."

I laugh out loud. "My dad's dad is called "old man" by everyone. I actually called him Papa Old Man for years."

We sip our tea and compare childhood stories. Skinned knees climbing trees, chasing frogs into creeks, he putting said frogs into his sister's bed, me and Alice getting stuck in the top of a tree and having to have the fire department remove us… before I know it we are cuddled up on his bed and it is one in the morning. We only look at the time because we happened to yawn at the same time.

When I stand up to go to the bathroom again he thinks I am planning to leave and rushes out, "Stay with me tonight!" I stop in my tracks and slowly turn towards him. "I was just going to the bathroom but okay."

"I mean nothing has to happen but I don't want you to leave and I really want to wake up next to you tomorrow," he says with the most adorable look of hope on his face.

"Would you be okay if I wanted something to happen though? Like not necessarily everything but something?" I ask.

He visibly swallows and nods. "Of course."

"Okay, I'll be right back." I grab my bag from the floor and go to the master bathroom. I don't intend on having sex with him yet but I do intend on fooling around and these denim shorts are coming off. So I use the restroom and clean up a bit. I lose the shorts and look at myself in the mirror. I decide to lose the t-shirt as well. Now in only my simple white cotton bra and panty set I decide to make my entrance. Feeling a little shy after opening the door his sharp intake of breath is a boost to my confidence.

"Oh my god! You are beautiful," he says in reverence.

I look up through my lashes and see he is standing in front of the bed in his shorts and has taken off his t-shirt as well. His chest is perfectly sculpted but not bulky. I take the three steps towards him and reach out to touch his abs because it looks like my fingers were made to trace the lines there. He shivers at my touch. He has yet to touch me so I look up at him to figure out what he is thinking. His eyes are closed and he seems to be getting ahold of himself. I take advantage and place a kiss on his chest just above his right nipple. He exhales so quickly my hair blows to the side. I giggle.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Oh I am perfect. I feel like I might lose it like a teenage boy but I couldn't care less right at this moment," he says finally opening his eyes. They are the darkest green I have ever seen. He looks like a starving man all of a sudden.

He kisses me with a passion I don't think we have yet found and his hands are everywhere at once. Everything is nearly overwhelming and I really need it to slow down. I pull back a little from his kiss. His lips descend to my neck and it feels amazing. I am panting and my lips feel swollen already. His hands leave hot trails down my bare back to my hips as he pulls me closer to him. My arms are wrapped around him holding him to me. I feel my back begin to strain as he leans over me to kiss my collar bone. He supports my upper back and I decide to push him upright. He steps backwards, so I push him a little more. He backs up into the wall.

"Stay," I say, as I take over the moment. I kiss his chest. He reaches for my waist trying to pull me in but I lightly pin his wrists to the wall. "Don't move," I order with a grin.

He visibly swallows and gives me a sexy grin. "Yes ma'am."

I go back to kissing his chest and tease his right nipple only to use my hand to tease the left one. He moans softly when I flick my tongue against his nipple and it does things to me. I kiss my way down his abdomen to the top of his shorts and then back up to his neck. "Please kiss me," He begs.

I peck his lips. "Like this?" I question while starting to unbutton his shorts. His breath quickens but he shakes his head. So I swipe my tongue across his lips which makes him open to me, I suck his bottom lip into my mouth and let him go with a pop. "Like that?"

"Ugh no. Please Bella." He begs again. It breaks me. I press my lips against his and let our tongues tangle in a passionate kiss while I work the zipper down on his shorts and push them down his slender hips. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me against him. His thin boxer briefs are barely containing his hardness as it presses against my stomach. I have to breathe so I pull away and he once again starts kissing my neck. I push his arms down my body towards the wall again. He gets the hint and finds his place.

I kiss down his chest moving much quicker this time. I have a plan. When I reach the waist band of his boxers I look up and see he is watching my every move. "Is this okay?" I ask as I start to pull them down.

"Oh God, yes!" He says. I pull them down and his impressive cock springs forth nearly hitting me in the face.

I wrap my hand around it. He's not huge, like gross porn huge, but he is definitely packing. I mean the guy is six foot two and built long and lean. He's proportional.

I give him a few test pumps to see how sensitive he is. He jerks his hips with the first one but then just moans with the second and I relax because he has control of himself. Once I feel confident he is in control I drop to my knees and look up at him before licking from base to tip.

Edward moans loudly and I hear the unmistakable sound of his fingers scratching the wall. I do the same thing again and again until he is panting. Then I press the head of his cock into my mouth and suck. He presses against me a little but I can tell he is trying to be polite. I decide to try to take as much of him in as I can. I get a good bit in before he hits the back of my throat and I have to stop to adjust. He is panting and holding back I can tell. I bob up and down for a bit working him up. Then I release him.

I sit back on my heels and open my mouth. He reads me easily and steps forward pressing himself inside of my mouth and sliding easily in and out of me. Our eyes are locked and he is being gentle. I put my hands on his thighs to signal when it is too much but he never pushes that hard. When I feel him starting to become erratic I begin to suck harder and play with his balls. He warns me but I just keep going and wrap my hands around to his ass so he won't pull out. He comes down my throat with a long, loud moan.

As soon as I swallow he stands me up and I am lifted into his arms. He kisses me and lays me down on his bed. "You didn't have to do that," He says as his hands massage my neck.

"I know." I reply tracing the lines in his collar bone.

"I loved it," he says between kisses to my neck.

"I'm glad," I say with a giggle.

"I'm going to return the favor now," he says as he raises up on his knees.

"Okay," I reply shyly.

He kisses my lips and moves to hover over my body. Before he can move in between my legs he reaches for the waistband of my panties. "May I?" He asks.

"Of course," I say as I lift my butt up so he can pull them off. He gently pulls them down and glides them off of each leg. Once he has them off he tosses them to the end of the bed. My feet are now resting on his thighs and my sex is hidden from him. He coyly takes my left foot and places it on the bed next to his thigh and then does the same with my right foot. My knees are bent and he puts his hands between them, "Open sesame," he says with a grin as he gently pushes my knees apart causing them to fall to the sides. He looks me in the eyes before he allows his to travel down my body. He stops to remove my bra. First dragging the straps down and then unclasping the front and opening it. He sits back up and takes me in.

I am a little nervous under his gaze but he looks at me with such adoration that my nerves melt away. "Bella baby, you are so beautiful," he says. He leans over me and kisses me softly. He starts gently kissing me from my neck down my chest. When his lips engulf my left nipple I arch into him, I just can't help myself. His hand presses me back down and he uses that hand to stimulate my other breast while heaping lots of wet attention to my left one. I am panting and moaning. My hips are rocking and I am pressing my thighs together before long. He notices and presses his thigh between mine allowing me to shamelessly grind myself against him. He moves his mouth back up my chest to my neck and then to my mouth where he teases me like I did him. "Oh Bella. You are wet and leaving a trail on my thigh."

"I know. Maybe you should do something about that," I challenge.

"I'd love to. Shall I use my fingers or my tongue?" He questions.

"Both." I state clearly.

He nibbles my lower lip and then suddenly he is gone. He has gotten out of the bed and walked around to the end of the bed where he is grabbing me by the feet and dragging me towards the end. He kneels down and pulls my hips down even with the end of the bed. He places my feet over his shoulders and dives face first into my wet and waiting pussy. He doesn't take a slow lick. He just dives in and sucks my clit right into his mouth sucking hard making me buck into his face. I have never in my life came so fast. My body buckled immediately. He flicked my clit until I couldn't stand it anymore. Then I had to push him back. "Holy shit! What the hell was that?" I cried.

"Hold on, I'm just getting started," he says as an answer. I reach for the bedspread and fist it in my hands just as he licks my entrance and presses his tongue into me. I moan so loudly I feel like the people next door could probably hear me. My clit is still really sensitive so every time he touches it I practically come off the bed. He tries to stay away from it for a bit while he teases my entrance. After a few minutes of gentle licking he replaces his tongue with his finger and moves his mouth to my lower abdomen where he leaves a trail of hot kisses from hip bone to hip bone. His finger moves slowly in and out of me making me beg for more. He adds a second finger and is able to reach a place inside of me that I haven't been able to find on my own. He knows as soon as he finds it and rubs it back and forth making my moans become louder and more erratic. I feel him sucking a spot close to my mound and I know he is leaving me a hickey. The thought sends me over the edge and I explode. I feel a gush of fluid leave my body and I start to get embarrassed but he tells me to let go and just feel.

I try to ignore the weirdness of that fluid and focus on how good my body feels and how he is talking to me. He continues to pump his fingers inside of me while he works his way up my body so that he is kissing my lips and still talking to me as I come down from the most amazing orgasm I have ever had.

He gently removes his fingers and we just lay for a bit. After a while I have to ask, "What the hell was that?"

"That was you squirting. Haven't you ever done it?"

"Um no! I thought that only happened in porn."

"Nope. Did you like it?" He asks, now looking worried.

"I'm not sure. The orgasm felt amazing but it felt weird to have that happen. How did you know to do that?" I ask, then realize that I might not want to know. "Wait, you don't have to tell me."

"Ha, don't worry, I've never done it with anyone before. I read an article about it once and saw it on Tumblr. I didn't think it would be that easy to do. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable."

"Oh well that makes me feel better. Apparently I am special," I say with a laugh.

We lay there laughing and teasing each other for a while longer before deciding to take a shower and clean up the room. He has an extra comforter so we make the bed, some popcorn and turn on a movie.

We spend the next few hours cuddling naked in his bed watching, Guardians of the Galaxy.


End file.
